[B]URLINGTON — City officials are considering options for the renovation of Memorial Auditorium, and voters will likely not be weighing in on its future until 2020.
The city’s Community and Economic Development Office and consultants discussed four plans for the renovation of the historic events space on Main Street in downtown Burlington during a Thursday meeting of the city council’s parks, arts and culture committee.
The options are: working with a private firm to redevelop the whole block; doing major renovations to Memorial Auditorium to make it a multi-use concert/events space; doing the bare minimum renovations needed to reopen the building; and doing nothing.
Questions about the funding for a renovation project remain, and city councilors on the committee said they did not feel there would be enough time to get the auditorium on the March ballot.
The brick multi-story structure has been vacant since December 2016 after the city engineer recommended closure as the building fell into disrepair. The building was ruled structurally unsound and needed substantial renovations to make it safe for long-term occupancy.
Option 1: Super block
The plan that had the most funding possibilities — and the most support from those in attendance Thursday — was working with a private firm to redevelop the whole block surrounding the auditorium, which includes an unoccupied motel and a city owned parking lot.
This would open up additional TIF funding for the project. TIF — or tax increment financing — leverages the property taxes generated by the new development to pay back the bond for building and infrastructure improvements. That allows the city to divert taxes that otherwise would go to the state education fund and the municipality.
Councilor Dave Hartnett said he favored the super block model for the economic benefits.
“It’s the gateway into Burlington, and it looks like hell,” he said. “If we do a super block right, the economic benefits to our city would be just incredible. This could really be something big and special here in Burlington, with ownership from the city.”
Neale Lunderville, interim director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Office, said working with a partner to redevelop the block would allow the city to get the changes it wants to see to Memorial while saving the city money.
“They would be able to do what we want with Memorial for cheaper, and bring in some private capital,” he said.
The rest of the block could feature housing, parking and retail, he said.
At Thursday’s meeting, residents expressed their preferences by sticking red dots on posters next to the options they preferred. This model received the most support from those in attendance, judging by those dots.
Councilor Joan Shannon said the ability to pay for the project was important, and this was the model she thought was the most likely to move forward.
“It’s the one that both best addresses the community needs and the financial realities,” she said.
Option 2: Renovate Memorial as multi-use space
Consultant Steve Shetler of Boston-based Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype Inc. presented the plan that would revitalize the auditorium as a multi-use events space.
The plan includes an addition on the north side of the building, which would allow artists to easily unload their equipment for shows. The addition would also include a community room that could be used for meetings.
The main floor of the auditorium would be used for concerts, banquets, conferences and civic events. It would feature retractable seating to allow both standing concerts and seated events, as well as balcony seating. The basketball court would be removed.
The annex of the building would be multi-use, including being used for markets, performances and art displays.
Will Clavelle, a business projects and policy specialist for CEDO, said that the city hopes the annex could be used every day of the week, and this design would make that possible.
“We want this area of the building to be programmed 24/7, so when there’s not a farmer’s market going on or market activity, it can be used as a flexible performance space,” he said.
If the city continues to own and operate the auditorium, the cost for this model would be $32.7 million. With other major infrastructure projects ongoing, including the $70 million renovation of Burlington High School, Lunderville said the city believes $15 million is the most it could afford to take on in debt for this project.
This leaves a gap of approximately $18 million in funding, which the city would have to fill with no clear sources of other availability funding.
The city is also considering a public/private partnership, in which the city would retain ownership of the auditorium while a private partner would operate it.
The project would cost slightly more, at $34.7 million, but more sources of funding would be available. Still, there is an $8 million gap left over after adding state and federal tax credits and loans.
If the city pursues the super block model, the auditorium would be renovated with the model Shetler presented.
Option 3: Bare-bones renovation
Another option is a $10 million to $15 million plan to do a bare-bones renovation that would re-open the auditorium as previously used. This plan would be paid for completely with the general obligation bond and address safety and accessibility issues.
Lunderville said that while this option would stabilize the building and re-open it, it would not be modernized and would not allow for larger shows and conventions.
Councilor Ali Dieng said he thought a renovation of the auditorium was necessary but the city had to weigh the cost with the cost of other projects, such as the high school renovation voters approved in November. He said he favored this scaled-down renovation plan.
“We can fix it, put a little bit of money into it, while we pay for the $70 million bond that we have going on,” he said. “I think this is very needed, but we have to weigh prior costs. Do we want the education of our children first or do we want just spaces where people can come and have fun, which we have in this city.”
Option 4: Leave the building as is
The city could also decide to do nothing, which would leave the auditorium closed indefinitely while still costing the city approximately $100,000 a year for upkeep.
None of the residents in attendance Thursday placed red dots next to this option.
What’s next?
CEDO is moving forward facilitating the process, but it is up to city leadership — the council and the mayor — to decide when to put the issue on the ballot, Clavelle said.
Shannon said she thought it wasn’t likely that the issue would be on the March ballot.
“I think the most likely thing moving forward is the most complex,” she said. “And it’s an issue that’s very dear to the community and I think we need a little more discussion.”
Hartnett said he could not see any way that Memorial will get on the ballot in March 2019.
“When we bring this to the voters in March, we want to be clear and concise and give them a clear option,” he said. “(If) any council member or the administration tries to bring this forward for March 2019, I would vehemently oppose it.”
