photo by Plain Dealer photographer Thomas Ondrey on view at
Heights Arts Gallery, In Plain View
July 3, 2008
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Coventry School
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Today's headline and article in the Sun Press* ("Heights Arts hopes to
raise $1.3 million to lease Coventry") completely overstates Heights
Arts current thinking about Coventry School.
I told the reporter that Heights Arts Board will meet on July 7 and at
that time discuss conducting a feasibility study to determine whether or
not a sound business plan can be developed for a multi-tenant arts and
nonprofits center. The feasibility study would involve Code and Life
Safety Review, Energy Audit, LEED Feasibility, a Preliminary
Architectural Analysis, as well as a marketing survey, and would cost
$30,000. Heights Arts Board has not yet decided whether to raise these
funds necessary to present a sound business plan to the Cleveland
Heights-University Heights Board, and I made that clear to the reporter.
When asked by the reporter how such a center could be funded, I replied
that if the community wants this to happen, money would be raised
"Obama'style", from the grass roots. This center would not happen
because Heights Arts thinks the east side needs an arts and nonprofit
center, but because the community wants one.
There are other complications at play as well. For one, it is not clear
whether the school board prefers to lease or sell the property. For
another, the timeline remains a problem. The school board release of the
criteria for proposals is slated for July 15. Heights Arts Board will
need to study the criteria at our next Board meeting, August 4, to
formally decide whether to move forward. At the moment, the deadline for
proposals to the school board is October 15. I doubt if a thorough
business plan and necessary financial commitment can be completed
between August 4 and October 15.
There are too many other incorrect assumptions in the article to
address, so let me simply tell it like it is:
The idea of a year-round arts center has been in collective community
thought since the Cleveland Heights visioning process in 2001, and even
before. Coventry School offers our community a unique opportunity.
In the past months, we have looked at models of arts centers and
multi-tenant spaces elsewhere so we know such a facility is possible. We
have surveyed potential tenants and found interest. We have also found
that the current rent and utilities of potential tenants can match the
current operating costs of the building. A conversion to alternative
energy sources can dramatically reduce operating costs going forward.
It will be expensive to renovate the building. Some entity will have to
manage it. There will need to be a maintenance endowment. It's a huge
project.
Heights Arts is taking the lead in imagining Coventry School as a
vibrant creative center, but it will take a community effort to make it
happen.
Stay tuned, and if you want to keep informed with the facts, please
simply call Heights Arts at 216.371.3457, subscribe to our email
newsletter at www.heightsarts.org , or
check out the Heights Observer at www.heightsobserver.org.
Peggy Spaeth, Director
*story not posted yet online
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