I guess my sources gave me the correct numbers, back in March I said this;

I also heard they are looking at $6 million to finish the facility, this is what they are looking for;

3.5 Million from individual private donor
1.5 Million from City (taxpayers)
1 Million from their own Capital campaign

I’m not sure if they will still try to raise the other $1 million on their own, but I was spot on with my numbers;

Sanford will gift $3.5 million while TenHaken, who hinted at potential financial support for the State Theatre in his State of the City Address last month, is committed to setting aside $1.5 million in city dollars for the project.

What great timing by Mayor TenHaken. On Tuesday the MCC votes to raise our taxes, on Wednesday our Mayor decides to give away $1.5 to a non-profit who has struggled to raise ALL the money on their own. Taxpayers to the rescue. Wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago the mayor asked for citizen’s input on the budget? I’m guessing that the citizenry would say ‘Hell No!’ on this one, but like I said, we really don’t have any input.

I was told back in March that when Paul was negotiating the deal with Sanford, Denny said he wouldn’t give the money unless the city had some skin in the game.

15 Thoughts on “As DaCola predicted in March, City to give State Theatre $1.5 Million

  1. Blasphemo on June 26, 2019 at 11:40 am said:

    It’s nice they’ve saved the old State Theater, but let’s be realistic about the “return on investment”. Even restored, the State will NEVER hold a candle to historic theaters in other cities – even Sioux City – which really are “An acre of seats in a palace of splendor.” The State is no aesthetic standout. The façade and lobby are lame, the auditorium very pedestrian for the day. Furthermore, I predict this will become a money pit as a “one note entertainment venue”: an movie theater only… so as not to compete with the Pavilion & Orpheum for live events. The mayor says this will be an incredible boon to downtown business in the winter. Get real. Why go out in the cold when everyone has big screen theater at home now? The novelty of this will quickly wear off, and they’ll be looking for city handouts to keep it going.

  2. Back office deals and agreements continue with this Mayor. Taxpayer gets screwed again.

  3. I have never understood the state theatre and the need to restore it. I am all for preserving history but what is so special about the State? now that Denny and others (taxpayers) have dumped money into it, what do we get?

    are they going to live stream city meetings at the State and restrict public access to the meetings? or play old city meetings without sounds to relive the glory days of silent movies?

  4. l3wis on June 26, 2019 at 12:09 pm said:

    At least it is coming out of the entertainment tax fund, that is about the only saving grace (the Pavilion has been bleeding that fund for 20 years). Since it will most likely still operate as a private non-profit, I think a no-interest community development loan would have been more appropriate. Remember when we gave the tennis center $500K? What did we get from that ‘partnership’? Nothing.

    It seems the city just never learns.

  5. ''Extremely' Stable Genius" on June 26, 2019 at 12:34 pm said:

    They need to place a historic marker out in front of the State Theater depicting the history of the restoration itself….(“Here lies a perpetual and historical restoration project, which itself is a part of antiquity given that this project is over 25 years old….”)

  6. anominous on June 26, 2019 at 12:55 pm said:

    Great now plz hire someone to shovel snow in front of it for $1 Million dollars

  7. D@ily Spin on June 26, 2019 at 1:39 pm said:

    Another sinkhole! Anything they do loses money and requires an excessive annual maintenance budget. Everything is an example: Pavilion, Orpheum, Aquatics, EC, Canaries, Levitt, Parking Garage, Admin Building, etc.. It’s like betting on the long shot at a horse race then watching him for 2 hours walking from start then collapsing before the finish.

  8. l3wis on June 26, 2019 at 1:56 pm said:

    As I have often said, no where in the city charter does it say the city is required to entertain me.

  9. The Anti-Trump on June 26, 2019 at 3:50 pm said:

    They entertain me all the time. 😉

  10. scott on June 26, 2019 at 4:05 pm said:

    i’d also guess, that in addition to reclining chairs, etc. the state will also serve booze and food to patrons, like dying theaters are doing nationwide. this doesn’t seem like a restoration project anymore.

  11. Conservative Here on June 26, 2019 at 4:05 pm said:

    ugggh, another waste of money. The state theater sucked when it was the only place to go. No one is going to this except folks old enough to remember it and once they go one time that will be it. The cynical part of me is looking for “the angle”. Who got what in this deal and is coming out smelling of money and kickback because this makes no sense.

    I would like to see for entertainment, a small Yugo or Motorcycle to drive around down and through pot holes that are large and see what it does to the car/vehicle. We could televise it and hire a stunt man, then we could all vote on the shittiest pothole and it would be fixed ASAP. Lets spend 1.5M of our entertainment on that. At least there would be pressure to fix the pothole then. There is a pothole so large 1 block east of 57th and Louise, you can fit a WHOLE car in, maybe a truck. Looks like an IED went off on the road. Sad we spend money on this stuff, fix my roads Mr Mayor

  12. Well said C.H. I shit you not, there are potholes on my commute I have been dodging for two years. Do you primary job Mr. Ten Haken, not continuing the funding of everything BUT infrastructure. This next election, I am going to vote the best person in, not who aligns with the party of which I belong. Sick of it, both Dem and Repub.

  13. King Archie Bunker Ramp on June 26, 2019 at 11:01 pm said:

    ThuneHaken said relative to the State Theater: “There’s really only one real gap on Phillips Avenue.”

    So on the Sioux, I guess it would be between the Arcs, and on 10th Street, it’s the bunker ramp, huh?

    (“It’s like a game of Monopoly, except are there any ‘Get Out’ of a bunker ramp deal cards available?”)

  14. anominous on June 27, 2019 at 2:05 am said:

    lol u bichers need to get a real truck with duallies and the Cornfederant Battle flag

  15. D@ily Spin on June 27, 2019 at 11:39 am said:

    And the continual movie will be ‘Gone with the wind’. Theme song for another foolish unprofitable city investment?

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