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CPA NARRATIVE - 2020.pdf 1 CPA NARRATIVE – Academy of Music Lobby and Salon Area Restoration The 129-year-old Academy of Music Theatre, located at 274 Main Street, Northampton, Massachusetts seeks Historic Preservation funds to complete the 2014 restorations in the remaining public areas: interior lobby, salon and downstairs hallway. We had recently completed the 2014 restoration of the auditorium with opera box stenciling, opera box tops and added seats and installed architectural lighting. The interior lobby and salon will be restored in keeping with the approved 2014 auditorium restorations by repairing and painting the horsehair plaster, wood paneling and ceiling and installing period- appropriate lighting. The Academy of Music Theatre is one of the architectural jewels of Western Massachusetts with over a century-long tradition of presenting local and international talent on stage and on screen. The building contains an 816-seat theatre whose full-fly proscenium stage and full-size cinema screen are unique in the region. The Academy offers high-quality drama, dance, music and film to Northampton and the Pioneer Valley area’s diverse audience, while providing a much needed home for community-based performing arts groups. The Academy serves over 60,000 patrons with 148 performances, annually. In addition, we offer performing arts education for area children, ages 5-15. Built in 1891 by Edward H. R. Lyman, the theatre was deeded to the City of Northampton in 1892, becoming the nation’s first municipally owned theatre. Many nationally renowned theatre and music stars have graced the Academy’s stage, from Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore, Boris Karloff and Mae West to John Philip Sousa, Jeannette MacDonald and George M. Cohan. The original lighting design was inspected and approved by Thomas Edison, and the trap door that was cut in the stage for Harry Houdini’s disappearing act is still used today. In 1912, the Northampton Academy of Music was lauded for another first: the first municipally owned resident theatre company, The Northampton Players. Notable performers included Frank Morgan, who later went on to play Oz in the acclaimed film The Wizard of Oz, and William Powell of The Thin Man, among others. The Academy’s programming and services reach a broad constituency, which embraces the Five Colleges (UMass and Smith, Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges), the LGBT community, children and families throughout the Pioneer Valley, and the populations served by NPR and PBS (whose local affiliates are strong institutional supporters of the Academy), among others. Local organizations have come to count on the Academy’s prestige, seating capacity and technical facilities for their high-profile public events. Our reach goes beyond our back yard with 20% of our patrons visiting from further than 50 miles, adding tourism dollars for our community. The Academy offers scholarship funds to area families in need for youth programs; offers free rental for the KidsBestFest, JFK Middle School concert, and Northampton’s First Night; and, provides thousands of complimentary tickets to social service agencies for events. 2 Currently, we are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are focused on completing capital projects while the building is empty. In an ongoing community effort, the Academy of Music has raised funds over the past seven years through individuals contributions, foundations, local and state grants, the City of Northampton, and the Community Preservation Act to preserve the historic integrity of the building; serve the advanced technical requirements of the performers and arts organizations who use our stage; enhance the audience experience; and, address health and safety issues. During these past seven years, we have raised nearly 2 million dollars toward these efforts, one million of which directly went toward historic preservation efforts. Currently, we have raised two-thirds of the funds needed to renovate the public restrooms, which will include an increase in the number of private stalls from six to fourteen, touch free water-efficient faucets and fixtures, touch free HEPA filtered hand dryers, and state-of-the-art fresh air ventilation. We are planning a capital campaign drive in the fall of 2020 to complete our goal of three hundred and thirty thousand dollars ($330,000.00) and plan to complete this project in 2021. The Academy is listed on the State Register of Historic Places; we have submitted all our prior renovation and restoration projects to the state historic commission for its review and approval. To date, the Massachusetts Historical Commission has approved all the interior and exterior renovations. This project has been submitted for review and approval. The Academy was awarded the 2015 Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award for the complete restoration of the auditorium, including restoration of the interior plaster, historically researched and decorative paintwork, installation of new seats, refinishing new floors, and replacement of the roof above the stage. In 2015, the Academy, along with Northampton Central Services, drafted a priority list for capital improvements. Since then, the Academy has upgraded its soft goods on stage, installed a new sound system, added railings to the wheelchair seating sections, renovated the upstairs dressing rooms, renovated the box office for Wifi sales, upgraded stage lighting equipment for a total cost of approximately $200,000. This summer, the City completed the installation of a wheelchair ramp, which leads to the Academy stage and is currently creating bid documents for a fire suppression system for the auditorium. The fire suppression system is scheduled to be installed in October of 2020. The lobby and salon restorations will complete the Academy of Music Theatre’s aim of preserving the historic integrity of the public areas, while bringing the building up to current safety, efficiency, and comfort standards. The inner lobby area, along with the salon and hallways leading downstairs to the restrooms were not restored in 2014. Those areas were last decorated in the 1940s with the lobby painted in the art deco colors of maroon and gray. The Academy plans to complete restorations in the patron areas by repairing and painting the inner lobby to compliment the auditorium’s décor and highlight the lobby dome ceiling with high-efficiency LED tube lighting placed above the cornice in addition to period-appropriate lighting. Plans are to apply a decorative glaze to 3 the lobby ceiling, which is the same technique employed for the auditorium ceiling decorative painting. The salon area will have new period-appropriate display lighting installed to accommodate a permanent history display with pictures and historically significant documents and artifacts. The indoor-outdoor carpet in the downstairs hallway will be replaced with low-maintenance wood vinyl plank flooring. The Academy of Music Theatre receives wide support for its care of the building, its preservation efforts in maintaining the historic integrity of the building, and its upgrades that enhance the artist and audience experience. Letters of support were submitted in our last application, which received partial funding (some of those letters re-submitted with this application) Our economic impact on Northampton is viewed as a success story, whereby, we currently generate $4.1 million in consumer spending annually with $1,000,000 in downtown meals and beverages, $1,000,000 in hotel revenues, and $450,000 in hotel guest spending. See Exhibit A. For the past five years, the Academy has been voted the #1 Place to See Live Theater for both the Readers’ Choice Award and Valley Advocate’s Best Of. The Academy, in addition to creating a capital improvement priorities list, has created a capital replacement account that has helped us to replace and upgrade technical equipment, as well as pay for the architectural drawings for the wheelchair accessible ramp. We have also included in our budget maintenance on capital improvement items, which include bi-annual touch up painting for the auditorium walls and trim, refinishing the unprotected mahogany door on the park side, and the repair and upkeep of technical equipment. The Academy of Music Theatre will carry out all repairs required to maintain and preserve this renovation project. Note: We had received community support for this project in a 2018 Community Preservation Act grant submission; however, we did not receive full funding support for this portion of the project. Due to COVID-19, we are re-submitting some of those support letters. CPA BUDGET AUGUST 27, 2020 ACADEMY OF MUSIC LOBBY, SALON & DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY RESTORATIONS 1. Repair and paint inner lobby, salon, upstairs and downstairs hallway $17,600 2. Remove inner lobby chandelier and install new efficient LED tube lighting and period lighting $9,000 3. Upgrade salon lighting and down stairs hallway lighting to be historically period appropriate. $5,000 4. New wood vinyl plank flooring for downstairs hallway, repair and repaint the risers on stairs leading to downstairs bathrooms $5,400 5. Architectural plans and BID documents for Lobby and Salon renovations $9,900 6. Colorist Jonathan Kohrman for color selection and decorative painting of lobby ceiling $8,100 Total: $55,000 PROJECT TIMELINE • February 2021: Bid documents completed and put out to bid • March 2021: remove chandelier and wallpaper in salon • April 2021: repair and paint inner lobby, salon and downstairs hallway • May 2021: paint inner lobby dome ceiling; install period appropriate lighting in all areas; install downstairs hallway flooring and repair and paint risers on stairs CITY OF NORTHAMPTON City Hall 210 Main Street Room 12 Northampton, MA 01060-3199 (413) 587-1249 Fax: (413) 587-1275 October 12, 2018 To: Academy File Fr: Terry Masterson Re: Academy of Music Economic Impacts Brief History The Academy of Music is the nation’s first municipally owned theater dating back to 1891 when a Northampton based businessman and philanthropist, Edward H. R. Lyman built the 800 seat theater and deeded ownership to the City of Northampton. Today, the Academy is an all year venue for live theater, as well as dance, film, music and education. Summary of Economic Value: $4.1 Million in Consumer Purchases/Ticket Sales The Academy of Music is Downtown Northampton’s leading visitor destination based on not only total ticket sales but a consistent weekly delivery of patrons visiting downtown Northampton and its many shops and restaurants. Please note the following economic impacts for 2018: • 62,000 patrons w ith 140 performances and events • $4.1 Million in total annual sales and purchases including • $1.55 Million in ticket revenues • $1.0 Million in downtown meals and beverage purchases • $1.1 Million hotel revenues • $227,000 in total tax revenues to State and City • $73,500 in city tax revenues and $153,500 in state tax revenues (meals,hotel,sales tax) $4.1 Million in Annual Consumer Spending 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 Performances 140 148 148 116 116 103 Ticket Sales 62,000 60,000 55,000 50,228 50,228 49,908 Ticket Revenues $1,550,000 $1.500,000 $1.400,000 $665,000 $665,000 $527,000 Meals/Beverages $1,000,000 $975,000 $935,000 $850,000 $850,000 $833,000 Hotel Revenues $1,100,000 $1,100,000 $829,000 $750,000 $750,000 $750,000 Hotel Guest Spending $450,000 $450,000 $331,000 $450,000 $450,000 $450,000 Food/ Hotel Spending $2.5 Million $2.5 Million $2.1 Million $2.05 Million $2.05 Million $2.03 Million Total Spending $4.1 Million $4.0 Million $3.5 Million $2.71 Million $2.71 Million $2.56 Milllion 2018 and 2017 Food/Hotel Spending: Both years above are rounded off to $2.5 million but the exact figures are $2.525 Million for 2017 and $2.550 for 2018. 2 $2.27 Million Tax Revenue Generation Over 10 Years It is fair to assume that over a 10 year period, the Academy will generate over $1.9 million in sales, meals and hotel room tax revenues to the State and City based on conservative estimates of consumer spending by Academy patrons. See below for 2017 Table of Tax Revenues: 2018 Academy Tax Revenue Generation for State and City of Northampton Tax State Rate City Rate Amount Total Tax Revenue State Portion City Portion Meals & Beverage 6.25% 0.75% $1.0 Million $70,000 $62,500 $7,500 Hotel Room Revenues 5.75% 6.0% $1.1 Million $129,000 $63,000 $66,000 Hotel Guest Spending 6,25% $450,000 $28,000 $28,000 N/A Total Revenues: $2.50 Million $227,000 $153,500 $73,500 Reference Sources for Economic Impact Estimates (1) Ticket sales, attendance and performance numbers are from the Academy (2) Meals tax is 7.25% ( 6.25% state portion – 0.75% city portion) www.mass.gov/dor (3) Hotel tax is 11.75% (5.75% state portion -6% city portion) (4) Sales tax is 6.25% (6.25% state portion – 0% city portion) (5) Meals purchases are estimated at $35 per person which is cited by ArtsUSA.org (6) After performance drinks/dessert/coffee are estimated at $15.00 per person. (7) Hotel room rate estimate is $125.00 per night with 1.5 guests per room (8) Hotel guest estimates are based on Academy patrons 75 miles from Northampton. Northampton Assumptions The following assumptions were made for this memo: (1) 40% of Academy patrons had dinner before a show or event. (2) 15% of Academy patrons had drinks after a show (3) 22% of 2017 ticket sales were long distance patrons which is 13,200 tickets. 13,200 patrons x 1.5 hotel guests per room = 8800 hotel room nights. 8800 hotel room nights x $125.000 = $1.1 million in hotel room revenues. (4) 33% of 2018 ticket sales (20,460 patrons) were also beyond a 50 to 75 mile radius but to be conservative, it will be assumed that 13,200 attendees, the same as 2017 stayed at least one hotel night. 13,200 patrons x 1.5 guests per hotel rooms = $1.1 million in hotel room revenues. (5) The $125.00 per night estimate and 1.5 guests per room are well in line with room occupancy standards and Hampshire County room rates.