RSO Musicians

This week Mayor Wilder accepted the final report from the Committee for the Performing Arts.
Details include:

• City Ownership of the complex
• Opening Fall of 2009
• Shift $2M from Centerstage to Landmark

Here’s a Times-Dispatch article.

According to this Times-Dispatch article, the VAPAF has reached their fundraising goal for refurbishing the Carpenter Center. The new combined facility will be called “Richmond CenterStage” and the Carpenter Center will be named the “Carpenter Theater”.

The last financial report published on the VAPAF.com website is from Feb. 2006. The final report from the “committee for the arts” is due to be submitted to Mayor L. Douglas Wilder by Dec. 31.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a short comparison of Richmond and Nashville’s Concert Hall projects.

TimesDispatch.com | Nashville’s plan for symphony hit right notes

Mayor Wilder’s committee for the Performing Arts has released another interim report. It includes a proposal to form a private corporation, the Grace Street Center Corp., whose directors are chosen by the City and the VAPAF. According to the report, up to $12M in tax credits might then be available to the corporation which would not be available to the non-profit VAPAF.

The Times-Dispatch has an article.

A public meeting to release the recommendations of the Wilder Committee for the Performing Arts will be held on Thursday, May 4, at 10:00 a.m., in the large conference room on the second floor of City Hall.

UPDATE 5/4/06:

The committee has published it’s interim report. The bottom line is: $45M to refurbish the Carpenter Center, and if they can get an extra $20M, it would be used for a playhouse on the SE corner next to the Carpenter Center. According to the report, the $45M includes an orchestral shell, but not storage space.

The Times-Dispatch has a short article.

The Wilder Committee on the Performing Arts is having a public meeting Wednesday, April 5th, at 3.30 pm (venue TBA) . They will be releasing draft recommendations for the VAPAC, etc…

It looks like our friends at OPUS have reorganized. They’re a group for “under 40″ Richmond arts supporters.

They have a social event scheduled for Wednesday, April 5th, 6:30pm – 9:30pm at Cabo’s Bistro.

Mayor Wilder has put forward a $250M, five year plan for the city of Richmond which includes a renovated Carpenter Center. Here’s a TD article.

RIC Capital Ventures, the group which manages Innsbruck after hours, has an agreement to buy the National Theater on Broad Street for $1.6M.

Their plan is to make it a 1500 “seat” Concert Hall similar to the NorVA in Norfolk. It could open as early as 2007.

Here’s a TD article and a Richmond.com article.

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Last night Bob Mooney was elected Executive Director and James B. Hartough was elected Treasurer of the VAPAF. Mooney is volunteering his services and has indicated he is only filling the position temporarily until a permanent director can be found. Judy Ford’s position as fundraiser for the VAPAF remains unfilled.

The Times-Dispatch has this story.