The City of Frisco is asking taxpayers to consider a new Performing Arts Center that has a rumored will cost taxpayers a rumored price tag of $300 Million up to $600 Million+ dollars. The city has started a “Sell It to the Public” campaign with a company called Theatre Projects on social media which begins with residents taking a survey to gather feedback on the grand idea. They announced plans to host open house sessions at City Hall, talk to local arts organizations, and will host listening sessions for the public.
We received an email this week from one reader who attended their “Zoom Session” and guess how many residents participated? Maybe 15 plus the representatives from Theater Projects who is doing all the dog and pony work for the city. I guess the small attendance still counts towards feedback but compared to a city of 220,000 people it does not like seem a great sample to us. The email also said how they are currently looking at two properties to potentially house this Performing Arts Center which we find very interesting.
The website which has been set up talks about the Project History and how the city has been studying the possibility of a new performing arts center for over 6 years. It refers to several studies and assessments done to support the future planning of the “critical Frisco asset” for our community. It also has a link to the 45-page 2023 Business Plan put together by Theatre Projects. Even though the 2023 Business Plan put together by Theatre Projects shows the Hall Group vision, our inside source says Hall Group is out! They will not be a part of this theatre project in any way shape or form, and they are not offering up the land for it any longer. Hence why on the “zoom” we mentioned earlier, they stated they were “eyeing two different potential sites for this PAC.
They are using every avenue to make sure we know how great and grand this project is and to show us how badly we need it. The city’s friends at Frisco Enterprise, the paper in their back pocket, wrote an article and it states that “Back in September, the Frisco City Council approved a $1.4 million professional services agreement with consultant Theatre Projects.” Part of that agreement is that the city leadership and the team from Theatre Projects would do venue tours to gather data and talk to venue operators. We “the taxpayers” are paying for all this travel, plus we are paying for the additional travel cost for the Theatre Projects team to attend. In case you are wondering that additional expense is not included in the $1.4 million agreement we have with them for consulting services.
According to the Frisco Enterprise, the visits included the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida; the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida; the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences in Lubbock, Texas and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
We figured since they were on this whole “Sell It to The Public” Road Show, we would file a Public Information Request for more information. We asked for the complete copies of the performing arts center studies and any associated documents related to the reports including those from consulting groups or 3rd parties like Frisco ISD or Hall Group. We asked for all 6 of the previous studies they have done that we were able to find in meeting minutes.
We assumed that it would be no issue getting any documentation because of how badly they want to “Sell It Like a Cheap Cheney Piece of Real Estate” to Frisco taxpayers. Imagine our surprise after paying $16.74 yesterday and today the status changed to “SENT TO AG FOR A RULING.” The did release the 7 studies to us, but the “other supporting documents” are subject to copyright and will be available in the City Secretary’s Office for viewing only. Who wants to go review the documents for us and report back what is in them? Email us at FriscoWhistleBlower@protonmail.com
What did they send to the AG for review? How much are they withholding from US, THE TAXPAYERS, whom they are going to pitch a tax increase to soon so they can spend hundreds of millions of dollars for a performing arts center which will be city owned and operated. Then we always hear them quote “copyright” as a reason to withhold things. We are just confused, when does copyright matter to the city? They made it clear during the recent political election when council members were using the “copyrighted” city logo in their campaign materials they did not care and in fact they said they could not do anything about it. Strange because the city websites states in black and white they CAN NOT USE THE CITY LOGO for political campaigning so why have a rule you can’t enforce about a copyrighted logo? Now when it comes to documents related to the Performing Arts Center, they want to say copyright matters. It seems they use that word copyright when it is convenient to withhold information, they don’t want you or me to see.
The way we see it is simple! The city is spending millions of bond approved tax dollars on studies for a PAC, then they want to claim copyright to withhold those details from those of us who are paying for it! Just release all the documents and stop trying to play games because it is getting really old.
Oh, one last thing, Frisco ISD got tired of the games a year or so ago, and they are currently building their own Performing Arts Center because outside influences kept delaying the project. That means you, the taxpayers will be paying for multiple Performing Arts Center. Feels like an episode of Oprah, where she yells “You get an arts center, you get an arts center, and you get an arts center!”
How many art centers do we need? Frisco ISD needs to stay in the business of educating our children not entertainment!!!
Every high school already has a theatre. An FISD Performing Arts Center is a waste of money and a taxpayer money pit. However, a public performing arts center in Frisco is very much needed. Look no further than Plano, which has 4 public performing arts spaces that are in use nearly every weekend of the year, multiple independent theatrical organizations and a thriving performing arts community. A public facility should be budgeted to pay for itself. A school facility never will.
Performing Arts Center Alone is difficult to be in business, joining with coffee ☕️, tea 🍵 or wine bars maybe can.
Not so. Cities across the country have public performing arts centers that operate in the black. Even Granbury, Texas has the Granbury Opera House, and it has performances booked nearly every weekend of the year.
Why not let a movie theatre-like group put up their own buildings and pay US taxes on their proceeds and taxes on their property like we do?
Why involve the schools or city in this! Schools already have large auditoriums that are fully used.
Why not do a joint theater with the ISD and ISD only so it can be community-based. That would not need 2000+ seats for a broadway show.
Name another city that has successfully done this; I produce live events and I can’t think of one. However, I can list hundreds of cities with public performing arts centers that are profit centers. The reason it doesn’t work is because schools don’t pay for the space. Therefore, any dates booked by the schools are lost revenue. A public facility employs an event director that actively books entertainment into the space: concerts, plays/musicals, rehearsals, corporate events, etc. Some events are contracted and some are four-walled (rented) with the venue taking a percentage of sales and concessions. Frisco needs a public space that attracts performances worthy of the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Frisco Roughriders & FC Dallas. A space that caters to FISD will not do that.