The missing arts halls of Collin County

This past weekend, I spent part of Jan. 6 at the Eisemann Center in Richardson watching Beatlemania Now. As you can likely guess by the band's name, the group was a tribute to the Fab Four.

While John Lennon was killed a year-and-a-half before I was born, The Beatles have always been one of my favorite bands, and I have seen about a half dozen different tribute bands over the past few years. Beatlemania Now was not the most realistic sounding group I've seen -- that would be Rain. They were also not the most fun -- that would be a tie between Twist & Shout and Me & My Monkey.

However, Beatlemania Now brought something unique to the table.

The band was jointed onstage by a handful of members of the Richardson Symphony, which added a layer of sound to the performance that I had not experienced before. Without question the highlight of the show was "Eleanor Rigby," although the set list was solid from beginning to end.

All that being said, this is not a column about The Beatles.

This is a column about how the concert I witnessed was held in Dallas County, potentially because no suitable venues are available in Collin County.

I mean no disrespect to the Eisemann Center, which I believe is a top-notch facility. I just find it unbelievable that a county with more than 800,000 people doesn't have a performing arts facility -- public or private -- that is capable of attracting traveling Broadway shows and musical acts.

The best we have is the new Allen ISD Performing Arts Center, which is a beautiful facility. However, the amount of beer, wine and champagne that I see consumed at the Eisemann or the Meyerson Symphony Center leads me to believe alcohol sales are important to many fine arts patrons. Since the Allen ISD facility is owned by a school district, booze is a no go.

The county's best chance at having a performing arts complex died in May 2011 when Frisco voters went to the polls and effectively killed the Arts of Collin County.

As a McKinney resident, I was not for or against the project since it didn't affect my pocketbook one way or the other. I thought the ACC would have been a world-class facility, an opinion that even the project's staunchest opponents often agreed with. Their reason for wanting to revoke the bonds dealt almost solely with the project's financing, not the design or layout of the arts complex.

Unfortunately, progress cannot go forward on an alternative arts center until the owner cities of Plano, Frisco and Allen determine what to do with the remnants of the project now known as the Arts Center of North Texas. Plano and Allen want to dissolve the project, give the land -- which has an estimated value of $20 million -- back to the donor, and split the remaining assets up equally. While Frisco leaders have said they support the project's dissolution, they have not voted on the resolution because they say they cannot get a straight answer from the art center's board about the amount of assets that will be split.

Bobby Baggett, the board's president, has told me on the record that the amount is likely between $1.5 and $2 million. I am not privy to what Baggett has told leaders in Frisco, but the two sides need to sit down and get an exact number so the Frisco council can take some sort of action.

If Baggett and his board cannot give an exact number, the cities should look into potentially dissolving the board and figuring out the fate of their project without the board's input. As we waste more and more time, the likelihood of the high-dollar donors asking for their money back gets higher and higher.

After all, if the land donor can get her land back, why can the AT&T Foundation not get its $750,000 back? If that happens, and other major donors follow suit, there will be no need for Frisco to vote because there won't be enough money left over to split three ways.

Supporters of the project have long said there are deep-pocketed donors who are willing to ante up money to make the project happen. I somewhat doubt this, because if they existed, why didn't they come forward several years ago when the project was on the cusp of breaking ground? They could have swooped in and saved the day, but they declined to do so.

That being said, I hope I am wrong. I hope those donors do exist. I want the Arts Center of North Texas to be put to rest so a new developer can come in and build an arts hall all Collin County residents can be proud of. I don't want to drive to Dallas County anymore to attend shows at Annette Strauss Square (an awesome setting), the Meyerson (stunning acoustics) or the Music Hall at Fair Park (a Dallas institution). I want to be able to experience world-class entertainment in my home county.

That shouldn't be too much to ask.

Bill Conrad is a reporter with Star Local News. He can be reached at bconrad@starlocalnews.com.

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