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Lebowsky decision inches closer
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 10:40 AM EDT
Argus-Press File Photo THE LEBOWSKY CENTER sits vacant in March.
OWOSSO - The Owosso Community Players may have finally secured the funding necessary to match a $350,000 state grant that could help rebuild the fire-ravaged Lebowsky Center - but it may be too late to matter.
The Players needed to raise the required state match of $350,000 by June 1, but the OCP was unable to obtain the funds by the deadline. Now the group is hoping the city will grant it one more extension so it can get the matching funds in hand and obtain the grant.
At a previous meeting, the City Council voted to allow City Manager Joe Fivas to seek alternate uses for the money if the June 1 deadline passed. The Council is set to meet tonight and could act on recommendations to that effect.
OCP Director Linda Keenan said the group is in line to obtain the $350,000 matching funds and is seeking an extension from the city.
“We are like two weeks away from having those matching funds,” she said. “What we have to do is ask the City Council to reconsider and allocate that money back to the OCP and the (Lebowsky Center).”
The Lebowsky Center, formerly the Capital Theater, burned Feb. 14, 2007. Police say the blaze was an arson, although no one has been arrested or charged in connection with the fire. Since then, the burned-out brick and cement structure has stood empty at the corner of Main and Park streets.
The $350,000 in funds potentially available to the OCP is part a $1 million Vibrant Small Cities Initiative grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
If approved, the $350,000 in state funds from the grant would go toward facade improvements of the Lebowsky Center. This would mean constructing a new roof and enclosing the center from the elements. The OCP has said it remains committed to a full restoration of the center - which could cost about $7 million.
Granting the funds back to the Lebowsky Center is not out of the question, Fivas said.
“Right now we're having conversations with MSHDA and we're trying to work out a plan moving forward,” Fivas said. “There is some discussion right now from different groups, particularly MSHDA, that would like to have experts come in and make sure the costs are in line and that the project could be completed for the $700,000.”
To obtain funding for the entire restoration, the OCP and Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership President Justin Horvath gathered with about 14 Michigan firms in May to discuss fundraising possibilities.
Keenan said the meeting meant positive steps toward the restoration.
“We received proposals from four companies, and we're interviewing with two of them this week,” she said.
The companies, Atlas Insight and Bazzani Associates, are both Grand Rapids-based economic development firms.
“We are looking to see how they can assist us to secure the appropriate funds and complete the building restoration beyond just the grant,” Keenan said. “We are totally focused on restoring the center and continue to look at all possibilities to make it happen.”
- Contact Nathan Bruttell at 725-5136 extension 231 or nbruttellarguspress@gmail.com. Post comments about this story online at www.argus-press.com.
Comment on this Story
shiataxpayer wrote on Jun 16, 2009 12:57 PM:
ken Mcghee wrote on Jun 16, 2009 12:49 PM:
CjP wrote on Jun 16, 2009 9:31 AM:
Perhaps a dumb question, but was there not any insurance on the building? If there was, what happened to those funds?
It would really be nice to see the old Capital Theater restored to its glory, but the timing couldn't be worse for funding such things. "
Eric Davis wrote on Jun 16, 2009 2:31 PM:
Check any tourist town in the State. A theatre and a very vibrant main street. One block away is a well kept district - I understand that our is undergoing a facelift(?). "