A recently unveiled McDowell Group study shows a proposed New Juneau Arts & Culture Center operating in the black by its third year, and Thursday more was shared about how that conclusion was reached.<\/p>\n
Susan Bell with the consulting firm McDowell Group said the figures were reached after reviewing years of Juneau Arts & Culture Center finances, interviewing members of Juneau’s arts community, nonprofits and others involved in events, production and promotion, and building on previous research done by the firm.<\/p>\n
[Report brings good news for the New JACC<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n “I think it’s a very rigorous analysis,” Bell said.<\/p>\n Her presentation was part of the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheon.<\/p>\n The end result was a feasibility study<\/a> that showed a New JACC with a positive cash flow of $51,000 by its third year of operations.<\/p>\n Bell said the cash flow estimates were done using mid-case scenario numbers and reflected things such as a projected 95 theater rentals per year, increased event space rentals, an increase in rental rates and limits on other local venues.<\/p>\n In addition to the explanation of the study, Ben Brown, marketing and development staff for Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, and Katherine Heumann, executive director for the New JACC, shared some news about the push for the project, including an overview of fundraising in the past year.<\/p>\n Brown said so far just less than $5.3 million has been raised toward the project, which is expected to cost $26.4 million.<\/a><\/p>\n “We’re at about 20 percent of the $26.4 million budget,” he said. “<\/p>\n Some highlights from the past year of fundraising Brown mentioned included 750,000 from National Endowment for Humanities, $150,000 from Anchorage-based Carr Foundation, and a $50,000 donation from Coeur Alaska\/Kensington Mine pending a match by donors.<\/p>\n [New JACC pushes forward with fundraising<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n Brown said that amount was matched, and the funds will soon be presented and said the fundraising success so far has been exceptional.<\/p>\n “This is certainly unprecedented not only across Southeast Alaska, but all across the Last Frontier,” Brown said.<\/p>\n He also discussed hopes for public funding for the project.<\/p>\n “What we’re looking for in terms of public investment is no more than a quarter of the total,” Brown said. “We’re bringing, I think, the best value proposition we can to the table,” he added.<\/p>\n Heumann discussed ways the New JACC could work hand-in-hand with renovations to Centennial Hall, the conference center near the JACC that is managed by the JAHC.<\/p>\n “That’s some of the head scratching we’ve been doing lately,” Heumann said.<\/p>\n All options depicted the two buildings as being connected in some way, which has been an idea that’s been discussed since last year.<\/a><\/p>\n “The standard now is people don’t want to leave a building,” Brown said of conference space. “They want it to be all one closed dome like Vegas.”<\/p>\n One design would include expanded community room and lobby space with a corridor connecting the two buildings, another idea would feature “significantly” expanded lobby or display space and create what was described as a “town square”connection between the two buildings.<\/p>\n