Performing Arts Center Groundbreaking Ceremony
The Partnership for Tomorrow process defined Art and Culture as a critical ingredient in making Burnsville a City filled with amenities to enhance the quality of life of its residence and business citizens. Public Art is now present in Burnsville and our first piece of public art was contributed by the generosity of Burnsville’s loyal, dedicated and long time corporate citizen Ames Construction, our own Mr. Dick Ames and his family. The Ames sculpture is on Burnsville Parkway and Pleasant and it reminds us that Burnsville was once a farming community. This piece of sculpture will communicate to future generations our roots, so it will never be forgotten. Other pieces of sculpture are also now present in Burnsville one is in Nicollet Commons Park.
The Performing Arts Center was the other critical element. Many public meetings and resolutions were passed in 1999 and 2000 which were significant inclusions in grant applications. In 2000 and 2001 the City of Burnsville received a total of four million dollars in grants through the Livable Communities Act to help purchase land for the Performing Arts Center and Nicollet Commons Park.
In 2000 The City Council under Mayor Elizabeth Kautz’s leadership committed to building the Performing Arts Center without raising new taxes and directed staff to begin work with consultants and professionals in the area of finance and to explore our existing Tax Increment Financing Districts that are nearing decertification. Staff was also directed to have the consultant do a feasibility study. Most businesses do a feasibility study and address the worse case scenario and build a business strategy to insure that the business does not find itself in the worse case. Burnsville has addressed the worse case and has put in place strategies to avoid finding itself in the worse case.
The cost of the Performing Arts Center is $20 million and is being funded with $16 million in bonds, host fees from the land fill, existing Economic Development levy and when Tax Increment Financing District 1 and 2 decertify the access taxes will be used to pay the bonds.
