EDMONDS – City officials and supporters of a regional performing arts center in Edmonds celebrated the sale of more than $7 million in bonds Nov. 7, money that will be used to buy the center’s home and start renovations.
The Edmonds City Council unanimously authorized the bond sale Thursday afternoon.
“This is a very important moment for Edmonds,” said City Council president Dave Earling, calling the center “a gathering place for the arts and the community.”
The Edmonds Public Facilities District (PFD) will purchase the former Puget Sound Christian College in downtown Edmonds for $4.05 million, and hopes to turn the school’s drafty auditorium into a first-rate performing and regional arts center.
The PFD plans to spend about $16 million on the project, remodeling the auditorium so it will seat 750 to 800 people and can accommodate professional theater, music and stage events. Parking for 90 cars will be included. The 12-month project is scheduled to start in November 2003.
The city picked a great time to sell the bonds, said Richard Ehlers, vice president of Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp., who handled the sale. Investors nervous about the economy and shaken by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut Nov. 6 rushed to buy bonds, pushing bond interest rates even lower, he said. That meant more financing than expected for the PFD.
“With the stock market being as bad as it is, people are looking at bonds as a place to put their money,” Ehlers said.
The bonds are backed by the money the PFD will receive during the next 24 years from Edmonds PFD sales and use taxes, Snohomish County PFD sales and use taxes, and $2 million from the city’s real estate excise tax, said Stephen Clifton, the city’s community director.
“To finally be able to sell the bonds and get to the home stretch is unbelievable,” Clifton said. “So many people did so much work to get here.”
The council approved the PFD’s business plan for the regional performing arts center in October. The Edmonds PFD is seeking another $8 million in private donations and grants.
Terry Vehrs, chairman of the PFD, said he was excited about the bonds sale, and said the PFD is continuing to work hard on the project.
“It’s not over,” he said. “We still have another long haul to go. We have two more years of hard work to get it completed.”
Katherine Schiffner is a writer for the Herald in Everett.
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