Bangor council ponders cultural grant requests

BANGOR – As more than two dozen board members from three Bangor cultural institutions anxiously looked on, city councilors Wednesday fielded grant requests for funding a special concert, the annual folk festival and building improvements for the history museum’s new home.

All three grant applications had been reviewed by the city’s Commission on Cultural Development and its recommendations were considered Wednesday by the City Council’s business and economic development committee.

While grants for the concert and festival were moved on to the full City Council for consideration, the committee deferred a recommendation on the Bangor Museum and Center for History’s request for a $500,000 grant, to be distributed in $100,000 increments over five years.

That discussion will continue when the committee, chaired by Councilor Frank Farrington, meets again in two weeks.

As it stands, the museum receives a $125,000 annual appropriation from the city, according to city documents relating to the matter.

This year, however, the museum is in the midst of a $3.25 million capital campaign aimed at developing state-of-the-art exhibits and archival space in its new home on Broad Street.

Last month, the Maine Community Foundation notified museum officials that the project is the subject of a $1 million challenge grant from an anonymous donor.

To collect that money, museum supporters must match each grant dollar they receive with one they have raised themselves. The $921,000 raised thus far does not count toward the challenge grant.

After meeting twice to consider the application, the Commission on Cultural Development had recommended an immediate grant of $10,000, a sum that can be covered with this year’s city budget for cultural programming.

With regard to the museum’s larger need, the commission recommended the city fund $300,000 of the museum’s $500,000 grant request, according to John Rohman, commission chairman and a former city mayor.

In doing so, cultural commissioners noted that $300,000 was the estimated cost for addressing building improvements required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

While city officials on hand Wednesday wanted to support the museum’s rehabilitation, City Manager Edward Barrett said there were no funds set aside in this year’s budget.

Barrett said the museum’s funding request could be included in next year’s budget, in which case the money would be available by July 1, the start of the fiscal year.

Because of the handicapped accessibility issues that need to be addressed at the museum, councilors asked Rod McKay, the city’s community and economic development director, to see if that aspect of the project might qualify for Community Development Block Grant funding.

The recently established downtown tax increment financing district was another potential resource they asked McKay to look into.

Councilors also wanted the city’s legal department to find out if a $300,000 grant given through a three-year pledge would qualify as part of the anonymous donor’s grant match.

Moved along for a decision during the council’s Monday night meeting were:

. A $75,000 grant for the American Folk Festival, set for Aug. 24-26 at Bangor Waterfront. The grant would represent the city’s annual appropriation toward the festival, which last year drew an estimated 162,000 folks to Bangor.

The festival costs about $1 million to put on each year, with funding and in-kind contributions provided by corporate sponsors, city government and individual donors.

. A $7,500 grant request from the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. The grant would cover part of the cost of “Know Your Orchestra,” a $49,797 concert featuring the BSO along with the Kruger Brothers, Abbot Hill Ramblers and Bangor Fiddlers.

The concert, set for March 21 at Bangor High School’s Peakes Auditorium, is aimed in large part at third-graders, an age group considered especially receptive to cultural experiences that can influence lifelong interest.