Harrisonburg Boys and Girls Club working on plan to pay back city
Posted on January 28, 2008
Renovations to the building the Boys and Girls Club has called home for the past 17 years are proving difficult. The club is in the middle of negotiations with the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Board of Directors to come up with $1.5 million.
The Lucy F. Simms building, home of the Boys and Girls Club and formerly a K-12 school for black students prior to desegregation, is owned by the city. The Boys and Girls Club has been in the facility rent-free for a $1/year since 1991.
“The building was failing mechanically and was in a state of disrepair by 2004 when the city and HRHA made the decision to secure [its] historical landmark status and renovate it at an estimated cost of $5.5 million,” said Heather Denman, the Boys and Girls Club executive director.
The HRHA informed the BGCHR that it needed to raise $1.5 million to help pay for the renovation in exchange for a renewable 19-year lease.
The Association for Retarded Citizens of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is also sharing the building, and was required to raise $500,000 on the same terms. Denman said it was decided by space allocation.
“Approximately $900,000 was to come from historical tax credits and the balance from the city,” said Denman.
According to a Boys and Girls Club press release, in order to secure historical tax credits the building could not be owned by the city for five years. A partnership, which included BGCHR and ARC, was established for the purpose of temporary ownership and management of the center, this qualified the city for the $800,000 in tax credits.
HRHA secured a loan of $2 million to complete construction. The Boys and Girls Club and ARC would be charged the interest on the loan. The city provided a written guarantee saying it would cover the loan if the groups defaulted.
“If we couldn’t raise all or part of the money we were told by HRHA we would ‘work something out,’ possibly a rental agreement,” Denman said.
Now the BGCHR is working on a plan to show how it is going to raise the money.
“On Jan. 8, at the request of council, I provided a report on the progress of our campaign,” Denman said. “My report to council was only that, not a request for funding. In fact, before I even made my report, council had approved paying the $2 million loan.”
The meeting was only the first of at least three meetings to complete the plan and present a final copy to council.
Due to the lack of success from its first fundraising campaign, the BGCHR decided to change its strategy. This time the club worked with the Diversified Nonprofit services to develop their strategy.
DNS was contracted for 30 months of help starting in 2003. They have agreed to stay on free of charge until the money is raised.
