District Gets Boost: City OKs More Than $20 Million for Project

The Dallas Morning News
September 29, 2005


Dallas paid to play Wednesday, injecting more than $20 million into a dramatic expansion of the city's Arts District that includes a new theater and opera house.
The money represents just a fraction of the project's estimated $275 million cost. But it's crucial to the venues opening on schedule in 2009, said Dallas City Council members, who voted unanimously to approve the combination of bond and general city funds.

“We're about to shoot Roman candles off over here. We've got the matches out, and they're going to go at any time,” said Bill Lively, president and chief operating officer of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. The vote is “a mandate that we're proud of. It shows that the mayor and council understand the importance of this project.”

Said Mayor Laura Miller: “It's arguably the best, most exciting arts district project in the country.”

The city funds - the council culled $17.78 million from 2003 bond funds, while $2.5 million comes from current city funds and are subject to annual appropriation - are reasonable expenditures, given that other U.S. cities have bankrolled majority shares of arts developments, council members said.

Private interests are expected to spend $257 million on the project, which calls for the development and construction of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, the Annette Strauss Artist Square outdoor performance facility, a large plaza and a 600-space underground parking garage. Funding for a planned municipal performance hall remains incomplete.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for Nov. 10.

“What this says to me is that they will support these arts buildings much as they have our existing buildings for many years,” said Mark Hadley, managing director of the Dallas Theater Center.

Dallas' Arts District is already home to such facilities as the Dallas Museum of Art, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Nasher Sculpture Center and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

The vote Wednesday was almost delayed, as council member Mitchell Rasansky moved to defer it two weeks because of questions he had about the project that he said had gone unanswered. Mr. Rasansky later said staff had addressed his concerns, and the council unanimously overruled his deferral, then passed the performance center's funding.

The council likewise voted to enter a development agreement with the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, which will administer the city's project funding.

“This will make us a class city when it comes to arts,” Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia said. “I will look forward to a bright future - which isn't too far.”

“There are few things happening in our city right now that's more exciting than what's happening in the Arts District,” said council member Angela Hunt, whose District 14 includes the Arts District.

“We're getting this at a very low cost for our city. The backers - they're putting their money where their mouth is.”