Denver firm to determine if there's private money for Colorado

Renovation and restoration of City Auditorium moved a step closer to realization this week when Denver-based RBSCo was hired to conduct a feasibility study about The Downtown Partnership's plan to renovate the historic building.

The $25,000 city-funded study will begin within several weeks.

The partnership's plan calls for the auditorium's renovation to be paid for with private contributions, public money and transferable tax credits.

RBSCo's feasibility study will deal only with private fundraising.

Using what the firm calls its 20/200 methodology, the company will interview 20 individuals who are targeted as potential donors. Using their feedback, as well as the results of an online survey of another 200 individuals, the company will determine whether a private fundraising effort is likely to be successful.

If so, the company will prepare a campaign plan "reflecting the findings and recommendations of the feasibility study."

Transferable tax credits would be created by the renovation itself because the auditorium is on the National Register of Historic Places and is in a "new market tax credit" census tract. The project might also be eligible for other types of transferable federal and state tax credits and deductions, such as federal renewable energy credits.

Project proponents believe that the sale of these credits could provide as much as 25 percent of the project's total cost.

Public funding, the plan's third component, would come from a bond issue supported by the renewal of the city mill levy which was used to pay for a 1989 city bond issue. Those bonds will be paid off next year and the mill levy will expire unless renewed by voters.

Tentative plans call for a wide-ranging menu of public improvements to be paid for by the new bonds, including the renovation of the auditorium.

City Councilman Randy Purvis, who was on council when the original bonds were issued, is a member of the partnership's auditorium committee. He referred to the proposed bond issue, which would be on the ballot during next April's city elections, as "the son of SCIP."

SCIP, or the Springs Community Improvement Program, was a 1999 bond issue which provided money for several capital improvement projects, including America the Beautiful Park. Purvis said that council would have to approve both the bond issue and the projects in it.

However, some committee members were concerned about the short timeline for private fundraising and building community awareness, given that the elections are only 13 months away.

"I want to make sure that the renovation doesn't out-price all of the traditional users," said Betsy Shoup, president of the Friends of the Historic City Auditorium. "Also, I hope that we can make sure that this never happens again -- that the city doesn't just neglect it and let it decay for another 80 years. Really, we shouldn't have to do this. The city should have maintained it all along."

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