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Newspaper Articles 
Theater to ask state for $12 million 
Star Tribune
Published: September 29, 2001
By Rohan Preston; Staff Writer
RSEC: The Children's Theatre Company intends to seek $12 million from the state to help with its planned $30 million renovation and expansion project, theater officials said Friday.
The announcement comes two days after the CTC and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts made public their appointment of architect Michael Graves to design expansions for both institutions on their shared campus in south Minneapolis.
The CTC said the government funding, through state bonding, would cover half of its $24 million construction costs; the rest would be raised from private sources.
The CTC believes that because of its history, its fiscal soundness and its connections across the state, it is well-positioned to seek help from the Legislature.
For its current tour, the theater is taking "Grimm Tales" to 22 communities in Minnesota, plus venues in eight other states.
"Because of our 16-year history of statewide touring - over 800,000 people have seen our shows on tour all over Minnesota - and because of our longtime strong commitment to education, we believe we have a compelling case for support," said managing director Teresa Eyring.
The CTC request - the theater has put in a preliminary filing to the Legislature; the final application is due in November - is part of an expected wave of arts requests. The Guthrie Theater, which hopes to build a $100 million theater complex on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, has said it intends to approach the Legislature as well.
Other arts organizations, including the relocated Shubert Theater, also plan to seek public support.
In the past, Gov. Jesse Ventura has opposed public support for the arts. His veto of $3 million for the Guthrie was overridden. At his urging, the Legislature also rescinded $1 million of a $2.25 million bonding appropriation for the Penumbra Theatre.
These arts funding requests come in a changed environment when the talk in state government is about deficits instead of surpluses. But that could work in arts groups' favor, said Sen. Dick Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, a leading arts advocator who is chairman of the Senate State Government and Economic Development Budget Division as well as the Capital Investment Committee.
"Keep in mind that we're talking about bonding, so there's still a capacity for a significant amount to be bonded, especially during a recession," he said. "We don't use the language of economic stimulus, but that's a possibility."
Cohen added that the Legislature usually supports "10 to 30 percent of the total project cost. Fifty percent is a fairly high figure, but not impossible."
CTC officials remained optimistic, saying they have been raising money as part of a "quiet campaign."
Usually, campaigns are announced after 50 percent of the total has been pledged.
"We are making excellent progress and we expect to make the official capital campaign announcement by the end of this year," Eyring said.
Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. Republished here with the permission of the Star Tribune. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the express approval of the Star Tribune.
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