Oro Valley residents urge softer funding language for proposed performing arts center as feasibility study begins

Malini Sims, a principal planner for the Town of Oro Valley, opened the resident working group's meeting by reviewing the 10-year general-plan process and the findings from the town's 60% community review. Sims said residents liked the idea of a performing arts center but were concerned about the town's role in paying for one; staff flagged a sentence in the draft requiring the center be "completely financially independent" as the evening's primary point of debate.

"It says 'completely financially independent' — is there possibly room for the town to subsidize private development in a way that allows us to move forward more easily?" asked Mike, a Parks and Recreation advisory-board member, echoing concerns from several attendees. Participants repeatedly suggested middle-ground wording such as "no guaranteed major funding from the town" or language that allows public'private partnerships rather than an absolute bar on town involvement.

Several residents with planning or nonprofit experience urged a flexible approach. Hal Burksma, a retired local government planner who worked on similar efforts in Beaverton, Oregon, said multi-decade timelines and mixed funding sources are common: "It was almost a 20 year process" there, he said, and major philanthropic gifts combined with lodging taxes helped pay for construction and operations. That experience was presented as a potential model for Oro Valley.

A board member of the Oro Valley Performing Arts Center Foundation, identified in the meeting as Bill, told the group the foundation has set up a 501(c)(3) and committed $50,000 to a feasibility study scheduled to be complete in mid-January. "We have the money to do a major $50,000 donation to do a major feasibility study for this project," Bill said, asking the audience to let the study be objective.

Other participants cautioned about the limits of a town-led approach. Joe Brandeber asked for a "bright line" excluding federal funds, saying he wanted to avoid potential federal influence on programming; staff responded that if a privately led nonprofit advances the project, the town may provide informational support but cannot stipulate private funding sources.

Throughout the discussion, attendees urged that the plan remain visionary but not prescriptive: several speakers said the draft should avoid handcuffing future town councils by forbidding all forms of town participation. "I just don't feel as a council member I'd sit back and say 'we will never put any money into this thing,'" one participant said, arguing that the council should retain discretion as circumstances change.

Next steps: staff committed to soften the draft language and return with revised text at an upcoming meeting. The foundation's feasibility study will provide additional data to inform whether a performing arts center is financially and operationally feasible for the region.