By Megan V. Williams
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/whqr/local-whqr-667437.mp3
Wilmington, NC – On a stormy winter afternoon, a string of banners brighten Wilmington's historic North 4th street, welcoming all who come here to the Brooklyn Arts District. But these days, the fate of the arts center once envisioned as the district's heart is gloomier than the weather.
Rainwater drips off the new roof at Saint Andrews Church, and white mortar shows where the bricks were recently re-pointed, but inside, the old building is still mostly a shell. All work on the massive structure stopped six months ago.
The money just isn't there.
I just don't think it's conceivable for us to, in this current economic environment, in this community, to raise 7 million dollars.
Chappy Valente heads the board of the Brooklyn Arts Center at Saint Andrews, the non-profit in charge of turning this husk of a historic church into a vibrant cultural center. Except Valente says the more his group looks at raising the money to do that, the more impossible it appears. And now they're looking at getting out.
The only redeemable thing, the only marketable thing we have in our opinion is the property itself. So if we could sell it and make some money and take that profit and put it back in the community, that's what we would choose to do.
There are two stories about the fate of Saint Andrews Church. One is a familiar tale of how hard it can be for cultural groups to raise money. The Brooklyn Arts Center is just one of many groups currently trying to cajole millions of dollars out of local governments and private donors. Everyone from Thalian Hall to UNCW has a hand out right now.
Valente says the support they need isn't there.
There's a sense with a lot of people that this is sort of an arts community, you know. But it's an arts community that doesn't really have an arts council, and it's an arts community that doesn't really have a lot of participation at the municipal level with the arts and the promotion of the arts within the community.
But there's another story, one about how the church and its surrounding buildings went from being city-owned derelicts, to valuable pieces of private property.
Six years ago, the City of Wilmington asked for proposals to save the church and two neighboring buildings, a historic fire station and the church's manse. Developer David Nathans took on the project. For a final price of a quarter of a million dollars, Nathans took ownership of all three properties, and responsibility for fixing them up.
Since then, Nathans has rehabilitated the fire station, recently selling it for $1.1 million. And he restored the manse, which now houses his offices and the Historic Wilmington Foundation and has a tax value of $300,000. It's the church that's proved tricky.
Last spring, the Wilmington City Council transferred ownership of the church from Nathans to the Brooklyn Arts Center. However, under the original agreement, Nathans remains the project's sole contractor, billing the non-profit for more than $200,000 of work.
Nathans did not return numerous phone calls for this story. But developer Gene Merritt, former head of the non-profit, says he's disappointed with this turn of events.
I would prefer that it be an arts center. But on the other hand, I'm also a historic preservationist and I'm equally concerned that the building be preserved and put to some good use.
Merritt says he'd be interested in buying the church for a commercial venture. But first the non-profit has to convince the city to even let it sell the building. The group may also have to pay back federal funds used in the restoration.
The Brooklyn Arts Center has talked about starting an arts endowment with whatever's left from the sale. But that won't do much for Sue Meier, whose group, the Dance Cooperative, had planned on being one of the Arts Center's anchor tenants.
There's been rumors that things may not be happening, we keep hoping it's just a bad rumor. But if that's the case, and that's the truth of what's happening, that's a horrible, horrible thing for us.
Meier's says her group signed a short-term lease on their space as they waited for the Brooklyn Arts Center. Now, it looks like the group must seek another sanctuary.
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WHQR prior coverage: Restoring Memories at the Brooklyn Arts Center (4/12/2006)
The Brooklyn Arts Center website
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