PAC Back
Arts Center project appears to have momentum
While the Town of Mammoth Lakes and Mono County have been making a lot of noise lately with their various building plans (police, multi-use and south county government facilities), there’s been another project in the works that has received relatively little attention. Perhaps this is due to the low-key nature of Evan Russell, Executive Director (Emeritus) of the Mammoth Lakes Foundation. Russell has quietly put a plan in place for a new Performing Arts Center (to be located at Mammoth’s Cerro Coso campus) that is compelling – and includes the promise of substantial financial support from private backers.
Last Friday, Russell presented a status update for the Performing Arts Center (PAC) to Mammoth Lakes Recreation. The vision: An 18,0000-square foot, 298-seat center with a price estimate of approximately $12 million.
Russell is asking the Town for somewhere between $1.5 and $2.5 million as well as ongoing operational support which could run at $300,000 annually.
As Russell told The Sheet: “We have identified but not secured funding for 90% of what we believe the cost of the project will be ($12 million). Once we know exactly, to the best of our ability, how much the project will cost, which we hope to know in time to present at the 1st town council meeting in May, we will ask for $1.5-$2.5 million from the town in the form of Measure U allocations. We plan to formally ask the college to approve $8 million in Measure C funding. We have two second homeowners who have said they will contribute $2.5 million, and who have already donated $1 million of those funds up front. We have a list of other second homeowners who are potentially interested once we get the project finalized and we believe that is just the tip of the iceberg.”
