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Progress made in Arts Center of North Texas dissolution
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com, @Bill_PlanoStar on Twitter
The board of directors for the Arts Center of North Texas met Friday for the first time since mid-September, a step forward for the project which has been in a holding pattern since last year.
The agenda was sparse, but the meeting signaled the project is moving forward once again, even if the eventual destination is its dissolution and the splitting of assets among the three owner cities.
Bobby Baggett, president of the board, said even though meetings have not been held, work on the project has been ongoing.
"Plano and Allen approved their resolutions to return the land and to dissolve the Arts Center of North Texas back in the fall of 2012, but Frisco has not adopted one just yet," Baggett said. "At Frisco's request, the Arts Center attorneys have been busy for several months conducting a review of all of our donation agreements and analyzing the terms."
The attorneys' findings have not been made public, so it is unknown at this time how much of the $2.4 million in cash will be returned to donors. The ACNT board was briefed on the findings Friday during executive session, and each of the three owners cities will be briefed in the next few weeks. Baggett said he is hopeful this will result in the Frisco City Council considering the resolution.
Once the project is dissolved, if that is the path the cities choose to take, Baggett said he is hopeful some of the money will be put back into building a regional arts hall.
"The question of what will ultimately happen to the funds when and if the cities liquidate the ACNT is frankly more of a matter for the cities than ACNT board," he said. "Last year Frisco voted down my board's recommendation to spin off their share of any liquidated assets to a new non-city owned 501(c)(3), but I believe there is still a lot of interest in the North Texas community to see a new, non-governmental organization take the baton from here... and with a view of keeping alive the opportunity for a regional arts center on this tract of land."
The agenda was sparse, but the meeting signaled the project is moving forward once again, even if the eventual destination is its dissolution and the splitting of assets among the three owner cities.
Bobby Baggett, president of the board, said even though meetings have not been held, work on the project has been ongoing.
"Plano and Allen approved their resolutions to return the land and to dissolve the Arts Center of North Texas back in the fall of 2012, but Frisco has not adopted one just yet," Baggett said. "At Frisco's request, the Arts Center attorneys have been busy for several months conducting a review of all of our donation agreements and analyzing the terms."
The attorneys' findings have not been made public, so it is unknown at this time how much of the $2.4 million in cash will be returned to donors. The ACNT board was briefed on the findings Friday during executive session, and each of the three owners cities will be briefed in the next few weeks. Baggett said he is hopeful this will result in the Frisco City Council considering the resolution.
Once the project is dissolved, if that is the path the cities choose to take, Baggett said he is hopeful some of the money will be put back into building a regional arts hall.
"The question of what will ultimately happen to the funds when and if the cities liquidate the ACNT is frankly more of a matter for the cities than ACNT board," he said. "Last year Frisco voted down my board's recommendation to spin off their share of any liquidated assets to a new non-city owned 501(c)(3), but I believe there is still a lot of interest in the North Texas community to see a new, non-governmental organization take the baton from here... and with a view of keeping alive the opportunity for a regional arts center on this tract of land."
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