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The Need for a Civic Auditorium
Building a strong community involves insuring we have good infrastructure such as streets, sewers, fire and police protection and other basic services. Many believe building a strong community also involves insuring we have amenities that make people want to live here. Many parents have expressed the hope their children will want to return to Casper after completing their education. Business people hope Casper will be able to recruit new industry to help stabilize our boom and bust economy. Many citizens appreciate what Casper has to offer but feel there is an important piece missing. It is well recognized that choosing a community to live or locate a business is influenced by the presence of a civic gathering place where one can enjoy performances from Miss Wyoming to Miss Saigon, music ranging from symphony to blues, and events from political debates to comedy. The mission of the Citizens for a Civic Auditorium (CCA) is to build this asset for our community.
Over the past year, the CCA has been working with the City Council to forge a partnership to build the performing arts center in the Old Yellowstone District. The CCA came to the city with $8.4 million in pledges from over 1,100 donors and a trona royalty projected to cash flow $46 million over the next 50 years.
To date many in the community have dug into their pockets with donations and pledges and the CCA is now asking the city to partner with these generous people to complete this project. While much of the financial support is in the form of pledges, we trust that those who have made a promise will carry through. The CCA obviously cannot guarantee the trona will be produced, however the company holding the mining rights has indicated they have every intention of mining these leases.
There will be no better opportunity to build an auditorium than now while we have an opportunity to receive a trona royalty that may produce many millions of dollars in addition to the millions of dollars that have been pledged by the citizens of Casper.
Our plans have evolved throughout the life of this project because parameters changed to meet the requirements of the various entities with whom we have been associated. The reality is, escalating construction costs have necessitated design adjustments and working to forge a new partnership with the City of Casper brought new dimensions to the project.
The CCA extends a heartfelt thank you to all who have given your words of encouragement, hard work and money to help make Casper a place where we and our children choose to live.
Ken Barbe for the Citizens for a Civic Auditorium
Click here to watch the Casper Civic Auditorium promotional video. |
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