By Tim Pallesen   

    Delray Beach’s excitement over the Arts Garage got a long-term commitment Dec. 10 when city commissioners approved a contract to sell the 10,000-square-foot facility to the arts group for $2.5 million.

    The Creative City Collaborative that operates the Arts Garage has until March 2016 to raise the money.

    “The City Commission recognized the value that the Arts Garage is to the city,” CCC board president Robert Schmier said after the 4-1 vote.

    The Arts Garage has leased the space since it opened in 2011. Supporters were alarmed when a law firm tried to acquire the building. 

    “We needed to protect the fact that we’re going to be there forever,” Schmier said. “The only way to do that was to buy it.”

    Commissioners applauded how the Arts Garage has brought life to Pineapple Grove as both a popular entertainment nightspot and a performing arts academy where accomplished performers teach music and acting to children.

    “The Arts Garage has turned into an economic magnet for the entire downtown,” Commissioner Shelly Petrolia said.

    “Facts show that having arts in Delray Beach means a stronger local economy,” Mayor Cary Glickstein agreed. “The best user of that space is the performing arts center that we are lucky to have there.”

    Only Commissioner Adam Frankel objected, saying the $1,000 deposit to hold the space until the $2.5 million can be raised was too generous. “What’s to say that every nonprofit in town isn’t going to ask for similar terms?” he asked.

    Frankel also questioned why the CCC hadn’t raised any money since commissioners agreed to sell the building under a city parking garage last April. “That’s a huge red flag to me,” he said.

    But Schmier said the contract was necessary before fundraising could begin.

    “The first order of business was to get this contract signed,” he said. “There’s no way that a not-for-profit corporation can raise funds without a contract to do it.”

    Arts Garage executive director Alyona Ushe said money will be needed for renovations and an endowment in addition to the $2.5 million to purchase the building.

    “We are growing extremely quickly and we’re also extremely young,” Ushe said. “But we’re determined to make our best effort.”

    The Arts Garage got started its first year with $300,000 from the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency.The start-up money equaled 75 percent of its first budget.

    Private contributions have increased since then to where the CRA only funds 25 percent of its $1 million annual operating budget now, Ushe said.

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