We ask for your support TODAY in both writings and verbal exchanges for MusicalFare as we become, over the next 30 years, an even greater cultural and economic engine for the Town of Amherst. Please note that both pieces below were published on 4/17/24 in their respective publications.
EDITORIAL from The Buffalo News Editorial Board
Worth the Cost
Relocation and expansion of MusicalFare will be an asset to Amherst's taxpayers
There's a lot to break down regarding the opposition of some Amherst residents to the town's plan to subsidize construction of a new MusicalFare Theatre at the former Westwood Country Club.
The plan is certainly expensive – and also likely to pay handsome dividends. Nevertheless, opponents have every right to push for a referendum on the issue, regardless of the strength of their case.
But they fail when they complain that the town is making decisions by "fiat." Indeed, it's a ludicrous charge. Across the country, we elect office holders to make those kinds of decisions. Whether any particular decision is sound – or popular – is a separate question, but voting for a project as the law allows is hardly a fiat. It's democracy at work. Opponents can try to defeat this one by exercising their own democratic prerogatives: by voting it down in a referendum or electing new representatives – or both.
The plan certainly comes at a fraught moment, with town leaders having just implemented an 11.4% tax increase. So large an increase will always get the attention of the people whose wallets it affects. But the plan to build a new MusicalFare theater works to the town's advantage, financially as well as socially.
The Town Board voted in April to borrow up to $11 million toward the construction of a new building for the theater company. Backers believe the new theater planned for the Amherst Central Park development, will help to transform the former Westwood Country Club into a cultural and recreational hub.
"It is a public good and it will be incredible the value that it holds decades down the road," Deputy Supervisor Shawn Lavin told a reporter.
The Town Board in February approved a 30-year, rent-free lease for MusicalFare, which agreed to pay $3.3 million toward the estimated $10 million theater. The town is covering the rest of the cost of the 15,000-square-foot building, which would be available for other public uses. Given the organization's annual economic impact of $2.8 million, estimates are that the new, larger facility could produce an impact of up to $4 million a year or $120 million over 30 years. And, even if it's less, it's still a win.
It's too bad this is coming at such a difficult moment in the town, but MuiscalFare is a valuable municipal asset. The project is worthy of the town's support.
---------------------------------------------------
Op-Ed in the The Amherst Bee:
Does the new MusicalFare Theatre deserve your support?
by RANDY KRAMER Artistic/Executive Director MusicalFare Theatre | on April 17, 2024
There has been vocal opposition from a small group of residents to the Town of Amherst’s support of the new MusicalFare Theatre. I believe many of the objections are not based on facts. No 2024 tax dollars will be used toward this project. The new MusicalFare Theatre will be owned by the Town of Amherst and will create a $120 million economic impact during its 30-year lease. Isn’t that a benefit to our community that deserves a $6.66 million investment? In 2023 MusicalFare employed 138 local personnel with a total payroll of $889,155. MusicalFare dollars also purchased from local businesses lumber for sets, costume materials, insurance, office supplies, printing and much more. Our economic impact in WNY is currently $2.8 million a year. It will increase substantially when MusicalFare moves from its current 136-seat theater to its new 220-seat home.
MusicalFare is a public, not a private, entity. The Buffalo Bills are a private entity. Our tax returns and audited financials are public record. We are by far the largest producing theater in Western New York. Shea’s is a presenting theater. When we were informed by Daemen University in 2018 that our lease would not be renewed after 2025, we began investigating all possible new locations in Western New York. We had meetings with multiple developers and with Canterbury Woods. (Canterbury Woods new performance space is a wonderful facility but it is unable to host large musical theater productions as it lacks offstage wings and support space.) The Town of Amherst, recognizing that we were a 30 year+ Amherst company with approximately half of our patrons coming from their community, met with us to ensure that they would not lose this public asset. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2020, kept our operations going through COVID by offering dozens of live-streamed events (for which we received an award from the Amherst Chamber of Commerce), and finalized a lease in early 2024 with an extensive public benefits agreement, including free tickets when available to Amherst middle and high school students.
MusicalFare will be paying the Town of Amherst $3.33 million by the opening of the new theater. To stay within the town’s $10 million project budget we have eliminated backstage office, storage and rehearsal space. MusicalFare will be taking on new expenses for these off-site rentals as well as the payment for all utilities in the new theater. These costs amount to the equivalent of $150,000 a year in rent over the 30-year term of the lease. To date we have raised $2.6 million in pledges and commitments in our “silent” campaign and will begin our public campaign this summer.
No other theater company in WNY offers as many performances as MusicalFare. We will be offering a full schedule of musicals and cabarets in the new theater. I ask you to support our efforts as we endeavor over the next 30 years to become an even greater cultural and economic engine for the Town of Amherst.