ARVADA — The Arvada Center should shed its city management and create a private foundation to oversee daily operations, said a group of heavy hitters in the Denver arts and philanthropic community.
The Arvada Center Task Force, convened earlier this year, presented its recommended plan of action to the Arvada City Council last month.
The council gave the go-ahead to begin preliminary groundwork for the change, including a series of community meetings. No final determination has been made.
Under the proposal, the city of Arvada would retain ownership of the facility as well as the financial responsibility for maintenance and security. City officials would enter into a contract with a yet-to-be-formed nonprofit private foundation for the daily management of the center, including programming and fundraising.
Philip Sneed, executive director of the Arvada Center, said the public-private partnership model has proven results across the country, including locally at the Denver Zoo and Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
“It’s really time for the private sector to take a larger role in running this organization,” Sneed said. “If you look around the country, the most successful arts organizations are either private or public-private partnerships.”
Many details have to be worked out, but from a financial perspective, a change in governance could reap large rewards, Sneed said.
In 2013, the Arvada Center has an operating budget of $10.8 million, roughly $6 million of which will be funded through ticket sales and tuition, he said.
The second largest funding source is the city of Arvada, contributing about $3.6 million a year, as well as covering any operating deficits. The center also receives about $1 million a year from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District.
Only $300,000 comes from private fundraising, Sneed said. At comparable public-private organizations, private giving comes closer to 30-40 percent of the total budget.
“The city provides a very generous amount of support to the Arvada Center, but the Arvada Center has not been very successful in fundraising from the private philanthropic community,” Sneed said. “The reason is very simple — most people in this country simply do not want to donate to the government.”
If approved, the new foundation would have an initial goal of raising $1.5 million to $2 million in annual private support within five years. Board members would represent a wide swath of the community, with weight given to their ability to give and attract money.
Members of the task force came from an equally wide swath of the Denver arts and philanthropic community.
Co-chairing the task force was Stephanie Tuthill, an attorney and member of the Arvada Council for the Arts & Humanities. She also sits on the board of the Community First Foundation.
Her co-chair was Meyer Saltzman, a CPA, Denver Zoological Foundation trustee and lifetime director on the board of National Jewish Health.
Special advisor to the task force was Daniel Ritchie, chairman and CEO of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Another was J. Mariner Kemper, chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corporation and a trustee of the Denver Art Museum.
Ken Fellman, a former mayor of Arvada, also sat on the task force and said while the Arvada Center’s governance has been discussed for years, there has never been the buy-in or concrete recommendations like the ones proposed today.
“I believe really strongly that we’re on the right path,” Fellman said. “But I also believe there’s going to be a lot more public engagement with the broader Arvada community before we get to the finish line.”
