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Home My WebLink About1994-09-26 94-430 RESOLVEAssigned to September 26, 1994 94-430 CITY OF BANGOR Authorizing Grant to The Maine School for (TITL6) gesolue,... ._.__ _..........._... .. ...._......... .. ................. the Arts for Acquisition and Rehabilitation of Freese's Building By Ne City County of Ne Giro ofBanpar: B SOLVEM WHEREAS, The Northern ConservatoryofMusic and the Performing Arts is presently engaged in efforts to create a performing arts high school in Bangor under the name "The Maine School for the Arts -1; and - WHEREAS, The Northern Conservatory's plans for creation of the Maine School for the Arts include acquisition and rehabilitation of the vacant Freese's building, so-called, located at 74 Main Street; and WHEREAS, The Northern Conservatory, by public solicitation, has received substantial private donations in support of its efforts to establish The Maine School for the Arts in Bangor; and WHEREAS, the Freese's building is located within a blighted area as defined and designated in 30-A MRSA 5 5202(1) and the City of Bangor's Community Development program duly adopted pursuant to 3D -A NASA 5 5203(2); and WHEREAS, The Northern Conservatory's current redevelopment plan would include creation of 40 units of for-profit elderly housing, plus private retail and office apace; and WHEREAS, redevelopment of the Freese's building in accordance with The Northern Conservatory's current redevelopment plan would create additional economic opportunities and expand the existing tax base in the City of Bangor, NOW, THEREFORE, By the City Council of the City of Bangor be it RESOLVED, THAT the Council of the City of Bangor, acting pursuant to Title 30-A MRSA 5 5203 and 30-A MRSA 5 5721, hereby grants $10,000.00 to The Maine School for the Arts, for the purpose of acquiring and rehabilitating the Freese's building, so-called, in accordance with the redevelopment outline attached to this Resolve. The grant approved by this Resolve is subject to the following conditions: (1) Prior appropriation of necessary funds by supplemental appropriation resolve of the Bangor City Council; (2) A transfer of unencumbered title to the Freese's building from the current o ers to The Northern Conservatory of Music and the Performing Arts or to. The Maine School for the Arts prior to April 1, 1995, with grant funds to be paid upon or fallowing the transfer of title; and (3) Prior receipt of a binding written commitment by The Northern Conservatory of Music and the Performing Art$ or by The Maine School for the Arts, enforceable by the City of Bangor, to expend $10,000.00 of private, donated funds toward correction of existing violations of the City of Bangor's "Facade Ordinance", (Bangor Center Revitalisation Area Ordinance - Chapter %IV, Bangor City Ordinances), in accordance with a schedule to be agreed upon by the City's Director of Code Enforcement. IN CITY COUNCIL September 26, 1994 Suspension of Rules (Read under Unfinished Business, after C.O. 94-285) Passed .CITY CLRRR 94-430 RESOLVE Authorizing Grant to The Maine School for the Arts for Acquisition and Rehabilitation of Frames's Building. ASSIGNED TO: 9/11/94 Bangor City Council c/o Ken Gibb Director Economic and Community Development Dear Council Members, Since 1986 the Northern Conservatory has actively been pursuing the goal of establishing Maine's first high school and family school for the arts to be called,"The Maine School for the Arts". We believe that Bangor is an ideal location for such a school. We also believe that the time is right for such school to be founded andthento flourish. There is not enough time here to classify all the supporting data needed' to complete what will be an outstanding business plan,(how in development with the help of Ron Lloyd at Eastern Maine development. corp.), but when the time is right, we expect our efforts in this regard to impress even the staunchest of skep- tics. Our students, their families, and our staff hope that you will assist us in this effort to establish this precedent setting school, and that you will open your hearts and minds to the potential in restoring our ability to embrace those visions born of love, not fear. The following requests are critical beginning issues in establishing the schools best location, the Freese's building on Main St., soon to be owned by the Northern Conservatory of Music and the Performing ARts. 1. The city of Bangor currently has a lien on the Freese building in the amount of $10,000. THe Conservatory kindly asks that the council acts to remove this lien which now blocks our way in obtaining clear title to the building. WE further ask that it be removed by SEptember 26th,the data of the next scheduled Bangor COuncil meeting. a.The Conservatory will offer the city in return, at least 5 years of free concerts,(2-4/year)at W st Market + Pickering Squares.(odce M.S.A. opens) b.THe Conservatory will agree toi use the first $10,000 of funding from donations to begin compliance with the facade ordinance. (over) gel aff 1611 kjf!� A Nam9mm Wryomm L -v 96 Baker las (9ma 9. led Flops), Beypr, Mme 01401 = 9674171 THe Conservatory further asks the COuncilt 2. Will the Council contact Governor McKernan right away asking him to please comply with the COnservatory's requests to him, and that he agree to its terms prior to or soon after the Freese's building changes owner- ship?(please see the letter attached addressed to Andrew McClean and the Governor's office) a.THe Governor's bill,(S.P.733-L.H.1958),passed on April 15tb,1994 will prevent any funding of the Freese building and its compliance with Bangor's code requirements,and will place the conservatory. MR. and MRs -Rhodes, in a position of liability if someone were to get hurt due to the buildings cur- rent condition. 1. THe name,-THe Maine School for the Arts' was filed with the State on MAcch 22nd, three weeks before, this legislation was passed. 2.The idea for the Portland arts school came from the GOvernor's office, not the legislature. 3.THe Governor knew full well of our efforts here in Bangor and appears to have ignored or overlooked them totally. THis in view of his letter of endorse- ment dated lan.14th,1993and that of his wi£es, makes it seem likely'�that the GOvernor acted o political motives rather than in the best interests of our children.(a conv of the bill will be present at the SEpt.26th Council meeting) WE have been asked to provide you with an outline of our plan to restore the Freese building and to establish "THe MAine School for the Arts". Here are the key points of our plan:(over) 96 Harlow Stew (Sude 9, 3rd Final, BIW. Maim OWI = 947-8171 page 3 I.Accepting the building by no later than October lat,1994. a.The Governor of Maine, the Bangor City Council,Hangor area representatives, Joe Brennan,SUe Collins,Angus King SEnator Mitchell, SEnator COhen, Congresswoman Olympia SNowe,COngressman Tom Andrews, will all endorse and pub- licly:support the school asthe only "Maine School for the Arts" in the State and urge their constituents to support the founding of the school and its precedent setting ideals. 1. in conjunction, we hope the media will continue to suppoiht this impobtant event- b.a liability policy will coved the building, (effective the day of transfer) - c.any repairs.vithin the existing budget of the Conservatory's capital programs will be made. More repairs,of a greater stabilizing nature will begin as funding becomes avail- able. II.Acquiring start-up Capital_ a.the possibility of selling a portion of the building to raise capital is currently under discussion - b.a fund will be established to address the needs of stabil- ization within 90 days after transfer of ownership- c.THe Conservatory will request donations in the form of materials and labor from the community- III.Completion of the business plan will occur in no more than 120 days following transfer Of ownership a.this will be used to attract investment capital and establish the stucture of our capital drive IV. Hiring resource and development staff a.a full time expert in the area of targeting resources for this project will be hired once start-up capital has been made available l.in addition, the necessary infrastructure will be formed so as to build momentum towards the larger capital campaign, expected to be 3.5to 4 million dollars- V.asbestos and lead surveys, structural analysis and architectural plans will be completed within 90 days of culminating the start-up phase,(this will require about $50,000 in initial expenditures). page 4 ON N ;►�■� ■fir _ ...._ VI.THe re-hab phase a.the building will be completely gutted to the bare walls 1. thisofcourse,means removal and or entombment of all hazardous substances according to the codes applicable, i.e.asbestos,lead paint 2.systems not salvageable will be removed and discarded b.new sytems will replace the old, special attention will be given to heating e£ficlency,low cost electrical and lighting, and the highest safety in terms of fire pre- vention and alarm devices, in accordance with BAngor FIre Department regulations c.Most interior renovations will happen on the first 3 floors so as to allow the prompt development of incoming cash flow through rental of the MAin ST. floor to bus- iness,(the second floor will also be used for rental in- come but part of it will house the NOrthern Conservatory so that income from the school can also be applied to further interior development)• d.THe entire exterior of the building will of course be re -modelled including the central, rear and frontal atrium additions,(alloving for the interior of the building to be flooded with natural light). e.upper floors will be developed in accordance with cash flow and the schedule as, pre -scribed in the THREE PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT leading up to the opening of the high school itself. f.WHen completely operational, this facility will generate nearly 3 million dollars per year in gross income IT will be completely self sufficient financially with the exception of a certain percentage of tuition made available through MAin STate AId to Education. VII.THe THREE PHASESare as follows: a.Establishing rental income and housing the Conservatory b.the addition of a, schoolofdance, school of theatre arts and a visual arts school, additional rental of. off ice space to other community arts groups.i.e. the Bangor SYmphony,the library,(an arts libray),book and supplies children's museum,etc. c.the high school will be established including classrooms for academia as per STate guidelines, a portion of up- per floors may be used for housing students from non- commutational distances page 5 VIII Funding Strategy, (seeking a 2/1 ratioof grants to investment) a.funding for this project will come from many sources as followa- I.corporate gifts,(we plan to solicit nation-wide) 2.tax credit incentives 3.the National Endowment for the Arts 4.The Maine Arts Comi4eion- 5.the Maine Community Foundation 6.private donations ].donations of goods and aervices,(which we expect will reduce our capital needs by up to 20%) B.fund raising events 9.1arger gifts by arts -education patrons THe NOrthern Conservatory of Music and the Performing Arts will gladly place all of its resources into this project from the onset. - We kindly ask that the city of Bangor join in this effort by removing the first obstacle,(the lien). Thankyou for the kind consideration in this matter. I am, Gratefully, D�ZJP'J_ director V REALTY RESOURCES CHARTERED September 19, 1994 Bangor City Council 73 Barlow Street Bangor, ME 04401 Dear Members of the Council — -0n befielf-of`ovr company, Realty Resources Chartered, we wanted to announce that we have negotiated an agreement with the Northern Conservatory of MUSIC to devglop approximately 40 units of elderly housing within the freeze's Building. We are hoping to have an agreement signed this week. I wanted to express .how excited we are about the project. Having mat with City staff a number of times, I know that the future of the Freeze's Building is critically Important to the economic vitality of down town Bangor. The project we are undertaking is an extraordinarily challenging project. It is going to take tremendous resources from the city, state and our company. The project the Conservatory is undertaking is challenging as well; the project is going to need tremendous cooperation from the City. We, obviously, expect that there will be that reasonable cooperation available for both the Conservatory's plena as wall as ours. I don't need,to underscore the tremendous synergy that will be created by having the major senior housing project within the same building as a school. we couldn't think of a better marriage .for our project than to beassociated with the Conservatory's plana. We will be sattdng up meetings with the City staff within the next couple of weeks to start talking about our plana, and we look forward to bringing this project to completion with you. 32car ly yours Josep C10 JMC/dml 3rd Flom 247 Canonical St, Box 5155 239Swth VoiwSwx 04101 Rockpm4ME 04856 BwHnmou. VT 05401 CITY OF BANGOR TREASURER PROPERTY INFORMATION 0074 (406) MAIN ST MAP/LOT 42146 R/E ACCT 23630 OWER: FITZGERALD CHARLES ADDRESS: 16 EAST RAIN STREET DOVER FOXCROFT ME 04426 PRO: PRDV3669F1.MTC POP 06/85 ZONE: C-4 LAND VALUE: 001]8)00 BUILDING VALUE:00614100 NEXT SELECTION: CITY OF BANGOR TREASURER PROPERTY INFORMATION 0074 (406) MAIN ST MARMOT 42146 R/E ACCT 61067 OWNER: FITZGERALD CHARLES ADDRESS: 16 EAST MAIN STREET DOVER FOXCROFT ME 04426 PRD: PRDV3669Pl.MTC POP 06/85 ZONE: C-4 LAND VALUE: 00108700 BUILDING VALUE: 00614100 NEXT SELECTION: N RE 23630 FITZGERALD CHARLES AS OF 09/22/94 09,28 ORIGINAL AMT 25,973.18 RE93 ABATEMENT 03/25/93 9,007.26 RE93 BALANCE .00 RE93 ORIGINAL AMT 17,441.60 RE94 LIEN TRANSFER 06/29/94 17,441.50 RE94 BALANCE .00 RE94 + ORIGINAL ANT 18,274.04 RE95 BALANCE -1- 9,137.02 RE95 INT- 17.52 PER DIEM- 2.50 _ -2- 9,137.02 RE95 * INT= .00 TOTAL DUE 18,291.56 ORIGINAL AMT 13,420.36 M92 PAYMENT 12/27/93 13,420.36 M92 BALANCE .00 M92 * ORIGINAL AMT 17,653.84 M93 BALANCE -1- .00 TL93 INT- .00 PER DIEM= 4.83 -2- 17)653.84 M93 * INT= 2,278.04 TOTAL DUE 19,931.88 ORIGINAL AND 18,405.30 TL94 ** MORE ** N RE 23630 FIT2GERALD CHARLES AS OF 09/22/94 09:28 BALANCE -1- .00 TL94 INT= .00 PER DIEM= 5.04 -2- 18,405.30 TL94 *.INT= 428.61 TOTAL DUE 18,833.91 ORIGINAL AMT 21,133.15 RE90 PAYMENT 11/03/89 10,566.58 RE90 LIEN TRANSFER 05/18/90 10,566.57. RE90 BALANCE .00 RE90 * ORIGINAL AMT 22,938.93 RE91 LIEN TRANSFER 05/20/91 22,938.93 RE91 BALANCE .00 RE91 * ORIGINAL AMT 25,851.81 RE92 PAYMENT 10/30/91 12,925.91 RE92 LIEN TRANSFER O6/19/92 12,925.90 RE92 BALANCE .00 RE92 * ORIGINAL AND 10,968.07 TL90 PAYMENT .06/04/90 30,968.07 TL90 BALANCE .00 TL90 * ORIGINAL AMT 24,499.59 TL91 MORE + N FITZGERALD CHARLES AS OF PAYMENT 10/30/91 24,499.59 M91 BALANCE .00 M91 'RE N 61067 FITZGERALD CHARLES ORIGINAL AMT DOWNTOWN 618.99 RE93 LIEN TRANSFER 06/08/93 618.99 RE93 BALANCE .00 RE93 * ORIGINAL AMT DOWNTOWN 420.18 RE94 LIEN TRANSFER 06/29/94 420.18 RE94 BALANCE .00 RE94 * ORIGINAL AMT DOWNTOWN 420.18 RE95 BALANCE -1- 420.18 RE95 INT= -2- .00 RE95 * INT= ORIGINAL AMT 697.95 TL93 BALANCE -1- .00 TL93 INT= _2- 697.95 TL93 * TNT - ORIGINAL AMT 464.06 TL94 BALANCE -1- .00 TL94 INT- ' -2- _ 464.06 TL94 * INT - ORIGINAL AMT DOWNTOWN 1,488.25 RE90 ** MORE * N RE 61067 FITZGERALD CHARLES PAYMENT 11/03/89 1,488.25 RE90 RAiANCE .00 RE90 * ORIGINAL AMT DOWNTOWN 947.66 RE91 LIEN TRANSFER 05/20/91 947.66 RE91 RALANCE .00 RE91 * ORIGINAL ART DOWNTOWN 1,201.56 RE92 PAYMENT 10/30/91 1,201.56 RE92 BALANCE .00 RE92 * ORIGINAL AMT 1,036.38 TL91 PAYMENT 10/30/91 1,036.38 M91 BALANCE .00 M91 *_ AS OF 09/22/94 09:28 80 PER DIEM= .11 00 TOTAL DUE 420.98 .00 PER DIEM= .19 90.06 TOTAL DDE 788.01 .00 PER DIEM- .12 10.80 TOTAL DUE '474.86 AS OF 09/22/94 09:29 . ENTER NEW ACCT TO CONTINUE - E TO END ** ***