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Mark Hopper, chair of the Embassy Cultural Center Foundation, provided WIZS News with additional information regarding Wednesday’s story on McGregor Hall’s funding request to local government:

McGregor Hall did not list a monetary amount in its funding request. We are hoping to have help with our debt service on the building, of which $18 million has already been paid privately ($12 million for construction of Perry Library and $6 million for construction of McGregor Hall). $2.9 million in debt remains and is financed through a low-interest USDA loan.

Letters and information packets were sent to both Jordan McMillen, County Manager, and Frank Frazier, City Manager in the first days of this year. Each letter was accompanied by the results of the study of McGregor Hall’s economic impact on Henderson and Vance County as prepared by the Municipal Research Lab at NC State University for the 12-month period preceding April 2019.

Important items:

• McGregor Hall intentionally waited to submit this kind of funding request to the city and county until we could do so responsibly with proof that we are achieving our stated primary purpose of economic revitalization in downtown Henderson and Vance County. According to the Economic Impact Study:
  • McGregor Hall is directly responsible for injecting $2.4 million into the Henderson economy (scope of the study was limited to the City for manageability) during the 12 months in question.
  • McGregor Hall is directly responsible for 5.5% of all economic growth in Vance County over the past three years.
  • Of all of McGregor Hall’s direct revenue, over 39% comes from nonresident patrons and purchases, proving McGregor Hall’s status as a primary tourist magnet.
  • Major event days at McGregor create massive upticks in restaurant and hotel traffic.
• McGregor Hall is the only performing arts center in the state we’ve identified with over 750 seats (McGregor is 1,000 seats) not connected with an educational institution that does not receive any kind of municipal or county funding.  We currently operate with one full-time employee (Technical Director) and three part-time employees with a combined 20 hours per week (two box office staff and janitor).  Our annual budget in 2018 was $491,839.
  • The Paramount Theater in Goldsboro has two full-time employees and 25 part-time employees.  The room seats 400. The City of Goldsboro handled all construction costs and is responsible for all debt service. Additionally, they receive $180,000 annually in combined city/county funding for operations to help fund their $480,000 annual budget.
  • The Theater at the Arts Center in Fuquay-Varina has two full-time employees and 14 part-time employees. The room seats 300. The facility’s construction costs were funded by the city. All of the facility’s upkeep and the entire annual budget of $725,000 is funded by the city.
  • The High Point Theater has six full-time employees and three part-time. It seats 750. The city funded its original construction in 1975 and has funded several additional renovations since. 100% of their $1.3 million annual budget is provided by the City of High Point, offset by an average of $800,000 in annual ticket sales.

There are many other examples, but these are representative of the norms.

There is no comparable model for what we are accomplishing with this facility through the sacrificial work of passionate volunteers and donors. We are defying the odds, writing a new playbook, and making Henderson way more than a punchline for the jokes of people in the Triangle. We are making life better for citizens in Vance County and helping to create and sustain businesses and their accompanying jobs.

What other current economic revitalization project in our town and county can prove that it’s making this kind of difference? What would happen if 5.5% of our economic growth in Vance County suddenly disappeared?

At the end of the day, we are a group of citizens trying to make where we live a better place, and asking nothing in return for it except help in achieving our goal.