Lansing gets go-ahead $2M for performing arts center in state budget

After years of waiting in the wings, the project to build a performing arts venue in Lansing is taking center stage. 

A one-time appropriation from the state combined with money from public, educational and governmental access support fees will give the city enough money to move the project forward. 

As part of the 2022 state budget, Lansing is getting a $2 million enhancement grant to build the venue. That's on top of $8 million the city has already raised in public access fees, which cable companies pay the city. (Lansing took over its own public access programming years ago in exchange for a higher fee from cable companies.)

"We can only use it to build facilities or purchase equipment. So, people can't use it to fill potholes and fix roads," said Dominic Cochran, director of the Lansing Public Media Center. "It creates an opportunity because it's dedicated arts funding, in a way, which is extremely rare and precious." 

The venue would create a space downtown for larger concerts year-round and provide a new facility for the public media center. 

"We've been accumulating that funding and figuring out a way to use it that makes sense," Cochran said. "We think that this will certainly have the most impact on the arts and culture of the region." 

Leaders have wanted to build a performing arts center in Lansing for more than two decades. The city first conducted a market feasibility study in 2000 during Mayor David Hollister’s tenure. Although there was support for the project then, economic trouble in the early and mid-2000s kept the project from getting off the ground. 

More: New venue? Downtown performing arts center discussed for Lansing

The city commissioned a new feasibility study in 2019 as part of the Mayor's Arts and Culture Committee. The study found that although there was broad support for the project, funding for a building that was projected to cost $60 million wasn't there.

The study concluded that a simpler $10 million venue could be feasible, though. 

"We have been working on the creation of a Performing Arts Center in Lansing for many years that will primarily serve as a live music venue," Mayor Andy Schor said in a press release. "I am proud that my advocacy and the leadership of Sen. Hertel will help make those tentative plans a reality for our city and region." 

Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr. (D-East Lansing) serves as the minority vice chair of the senate appropriations committee and worked toward securing the funding on behalf of the city. 

"We are at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting entertainers and performing arts to the Capital City simply because we do not have the space that other regions around the state offer," Hertel said in the press release. "This important investment will be transformational for our community." 

With the funding in place, Cochran said that it felt like the stars had finally aligned. 

"It's just been one of these things that four different administrations now have been trying to get done, and it looks like we are finally here," he said. "All the stars are aligning" 

In addition to creating a new concert venue and public media center, a downtown performing arts center would also be used by the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, which doesn't currently have a fixed performance space in Lansing. The orchestra's main hall is currently the Wharton Center, located in East Lansing. 

"It's the only concert hall in the area large enough to accommodate the orchestra and our audience," said Courtney Millbrook, executive director of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. "I don't anticipate we would ever leave Wharton Center completely, but it's great to have other options for other types of programs and to have an actual live music venue in downtown Lansing that can accommodate the orchestra as well as tours and other community arts groups." 

Millbrook, who has been with the orchestra for 12 seasons, said a performing arts center has been a long time coming. 

"We knew the opportunity would come and the time would be right eventually, and so that was the goal, just to be ready when the opportunity was here, and it's here," she said. "To have an arts anchor downtown would be significant."

The orchestra is excited to be part of the plans for the performing arts center, Millbrook said. 

"It's still early days in terms of the design and placement and all of that, but this certainly feels like a huge hurdle has been crossed," she said. "Now, how do we really make this the best possible thing we can for Lansing?"

Although a venue could be built for $10 million depending on location and amenities, the center could cost as much as $17 million to build, Cochran said. One version of the design includes a housing component with living and working space for artists. 

"That's still the target, and we would like to get there, but there is a version that can be built for what we have in hand," he said. "That's why we're now saying it's a go."

Three locations are being considered for the venue, and a final location will be announced in the coming months, Cochran said. None of the locations will require extensive preparation for construction, so the center could be ready to open as soon as 2023. 

Having a performance venue will bring new economic opportunities to Lansing, Cochran said. 

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a cultural anchor," he said. "Let's build this thing that will then create other economic activity that will allow us to begin to solve the other problems, too." 

Contact reporter Elena Durnbaugh at (517) 231-9501 or edurnbaugh@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ElenaDurnbaugh.