Thursday, Aug. 5, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.
Henderson's nearly 2-year-old outdoor amphitheater in Green Valley is expected to cost taxpayers almost $500,000 to run this fiscal year, an expense city leaders say is well worth the boost to residents' quality of life and family-friendly activities.
"If you look at the pavilion you know it's worth it," City Councilman Jack Clark said, adding that the pavilion provides a positive family atmosphere.
The $12 million Henderson Pavilion at Liberty Point opened around the end of September 2002, and has since been the largest piece of the city's overall spending on the performing arts.
The pavilion cost city taxpayers about $300,000 in the past 12 months, a subsidy the city expects to grow by about $180,000 in the next 12 months.
Overall, Henderson taxpayers subsidized the performing arts to the tune of about $575,000 in the past fiscal year, according to city figures from Dirk Richwine, assistant director of the Henderson Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees performing arts programs.
City projections show the total annual subsidy increasing to about $850,000 this year. That figure includes a roughly $243,000 increase for the pavilion, of which about $60,000 is from transferring one full-time position to the pavilion from another city account, Richwine said.
Also, the number of city-sponsored performances at the pavilion is scheduled to increase from 15 to 22 this year.
Besides the pavilion, the city sponsors a series of concerts and events, such as Artfest, which together cost the city about $275,000 in subsidies during the last fiscal year, according to city records.
The Mayor and City Council members were unanimous in their continued support for the pavilion and maintaining the subsidy.
"I don't see it as being any different than Henderson supporting other parks and recreation activities like baseball or soccer," Councilman Andy Hafen said, adding that all those activities improve the quality of life in the city.
Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said the pavilion and other performing arts spending by the city gives families affordable entertainment -- many concerts are free and tickets to others typically range between $2 and $10.
Mayor Jim Gibson said the pavilion provides an important venue to fulfill the cultural needs of the community.
Also, Cyphers said there's an expectation that such programs and facilities will need a city subsidy.
"None of our parks and recreation facilities were made to be a moneymaker; we subsidize each and every one of them," she said.
Merrilee Hortt, 52, an artist from Henderson, said the pavilion, and facilities like it, make cities nicer places to live.
"If we have to pay taxes they might as well go to something that improves the quality of life," Hortt said.
Cyphers added that "$300,000 is a drop in the bucket for what we have," and predicted that the pavilion will only get busier as the city grows.
"Is it underutilized now? It probably is. But we built it for the future," she said. "I think we're right where we should be."
Last fiscal year, the city spent about $386,000 for 24 events, 15 sponsored by the city, that brought in roughly $85,000 in revenue.
In the current fiscal year, the city is planning 25 events at the pavilion, including 22 city-sponsored performances.
Councilman Steven Kirk said any kind of fine arts facility "seldom even breaks even, but brings culture and arts to town."
He said the pavilion should be expected to have a proportionally higher subsidy than other city programs because the pavilion is new and big.
However, some say they wish the pavilion would pay for itself.
Doug Steffler, 44, a bartender in downtown Henderson and a city resident, said the subsidy sounds too high, and he would like to see it reduced to $100,000 a year.
"It's good for cities to have that stuff, the more parks and things the better, but the amount is too much," Steffler said.
Other local governments in the Las Vegas Valley also spend thousands subsidizing the performing arts, but direct comparisons are tricky because no two governments have the same programs.
Las Vegas spent about $835,000 last year subsidizing about 40 concerts, many free, and other performances, as well as 350 classes at city community centers. The subsidy also helped pay for summer camps and dances.
The Clark County government spent about $420,000 subsidizing 18 festivals and 40 concerts last year.
North Las Vegas pays $25,000 a year to put on five free concerts in city parks. The city also subsidizes the annual Taste & Tunes two-day festival, which includes bands, food, and arts and crafts.
The city subsidy for the May Taste & Tunes festival was $83,000, according to city spokeswoman Brenda Johnson.
Boulder City has a small amphitheater, but does not subsidize any activities there, city Finance Director Robert Kenney said.
Henderson's population was 214,852 in July 2003, while Las Vegas' was 517,017 and North Las Vegas' was 144,502, according to census estimates.
Henderson's pavilion is an outdoor facility off Green Valley Parkway near Interstate 215 and next to a library, police substation and the city's Multigenerational Center.
The pavilion has 2,500 seats under what looks like a big white tent, and space for as many as 4,500 additional people on the sloping lawn around it.
The pavilion was built with money from a bond city voters approved in 1997. The facility had a somewhat rocky first few months as sound problems were ironed out -- the sound was either inaudible or garbled on parts of the lawn.
But overall, the pavilion has been well received, and saw its attendance grow from 23,637 in its first year, to 35,987 last year, Richwine said.
John Martinez, 30, a lifelong Henderson resident, said he thinks the pavilion should be a moneymaker, or at least break even. However, he still thinks the pavilion is a plus for Henderson.
"It's good for a town to have a nice place to go," he said.
archive
