The beginning of construction, itself a project that could take 20 months, is two years away.
The Victory Theatre's 28-foot-tall murals by New York artist Vincent Maragliotti are being preserved. Renovation of the showhouse in Holyoke is a few years away at least. HOLYOKE -- City councilors and Mayor Alex B. Morse are willing to talk about the $28 million plan to renovate theVictory Theatre, a project that has prompted disputes recently.
"I think it'd be a good time to air this stuff out," Councilor at Large Joseph M. McGiverin said last week.
McGiverin's comments came after an April 16 council discussion that was about the project and the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA), the nonprofit group that owns the theater.
Morse said he was open to a meeting with councilors about the theater, at 81-89 Suffolk St., which opened in 1919 and closed in 1979.
"I am willing to meet with any city councilors to discuss the project. Over the past couple weeks I have been in conversations with representatives from MiFA to discuss our options moving forward," Morse said.
Clashes have occurred between Morse's administration, on one side, and MIFA and some councilors, on the other, about the project's progress and funding.
The beginning of construction is nearly two years away and construction itself will take 18 to 20 months, MIFA's Donald T. Sanders has said.
The city sold the theater to MIFA in 2009 for $1,500. But a condition of the sale included a "reverter clause," a step that lets the city resume control of the property for a nominal fee June 30 if adequate progress has not been achieved.
Morse is considering options that include extending the reverter, which would let MIFA continue, or exercising the reverter, which would have the city seize the property and find another developer.
Exercising the reverter would require City Council approval because the step involves an acquisition of property.
But extending the reverter is a decision of the mayor alone. The council on April 2 voted 8-5 to give MIFA the extension, a vote that was advisory because only the mayor can grant such an extension.
Morse vetoed the council's vote on the reverter, and that's what the council discussed April 16. The council opted to table the matter, which means it can be raised again for discussion.
Sanders, MIFA's executive artistic director, has explained the project has a complicated funding mechanism. Of the $28 million project cost, MIFA has commitments for nearly $20 million. That consists of $10 million in state and federal historical tax credits, $8 million in new market tax credits and the rest in cash donations, he said.
Tax credits generate funding like this: In return for providing money for projects in distressed, low-income areas, investors get tax credits based on a percentage of their investment over a period of years.
Sanders said such a means of funding and delays like the Victory Theatre plan has faced are common for such major arts-related projects, but critics question whether the project is viable.
Engineers have said the structure of the 94-year-old building is sound, owing to the building’s steel-reinforced underpinnings.The problem is the decades of deterioration wrought by roof leaks, mold and neglect, leaving the floor and seating areas a mess of plaster and broken seats. MIFA has fixed the roof and the two giant murals that flank the stage and depict allegorical images are being preserved.