Proposed Cary Performing Arts Center Hinges on Bond Referendum
 
As previously reported in these pages, one possible component of a proposed bond issue in Cary is a performing arts center. The following news release from Cary provides details about an upcoming public meeting.
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 21, 2003
 
Public Meeting – Parks, Greenways & Arts Facilities Master Plan
 
Public Meeting

Parks, Greenways & Arts Facilities Master Plan

Thursday, April 3, 2003 , 7-9 p.m.

Cary Senior Center (in Bond Park)
 

The Parks, Greenways & Arts Facilities Master Plan process continues as the public is invited to participate a final public meeting. Using an open house format, participants will visit stations with information on specific components of the plan, such as greenways, parks and cultural arts facilities, and have the opportunity to speak with staff and consultants. For more information, call Cary Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources at (919) 469-4061 or visit www.townofcary.org.
 
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PRIMARY CONTACTS: Doug McRainey, Principal Planner, (919) 460-4973
Lyman Collins, Cultural Arts Supervisor, (919) 462-3861
Meredith Bridgers, Recreation Projects Specialist, (919) 462-3960
 
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With thanks to Cary folks monitoring this matter, we pass along:
 
“This is an excellent opportunity for Cary/Cary ETJ residents to take a better look at proposals for a performing arts center and to express their opinions to the Masterplan consultants in the last week before the $30 Million bond referendum on April 8.
 
“The Town has a useful link on the bonds at http://townofcary.org/bonds03/ [inactive 2/04].”
 
Quasi-insiders speculate that this is going to be a multipurpose facility accommodating music and theater and probably visual arts as well. Location, seating, office space, acoustics, etc., are all in play, so – our usually-reliable sources tell us – public input will matter.

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City Bails out Ballet
 

As reported previously by the N&O and in minutes of the February 4 meeting of the Raleigh City Council (available online at http://www.raleigh-nc.org/citydata/bcc_council.htm [inactive 7/05]), Carolina Ballet has been awarded a supplement of $50,000, presumably from the Council’s contingency fund (and not from Arts Commission grant monies). The money is intended to help offset a shortfall that resulted from poor ticket sales for Nutcracker during the December ice storm. The award is in addition to a $100,000 operating-support grant given the company by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission for the current fiscal year. According to the minutes, other cash-strapped organizations are not encouraged to make similar requests….
 
Meanwhile, a troubled ballet company on the other side of the country was not so successful with its city panel. A dance group in San Jose applied for an emergency bail-out of $100,000 but was denied because other arts groups there complained, stating that that the money in question should be equitably distributed among all the cultural non-profits.. As it happened, private contributions promptly made up the shortfall in San Jose.

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Monique McDonald to Debut in Seattle
 
Soprano Monique McDonald, some of whose earliest professional appearances were in the Triangle, will be presented by the Seattle Opera Company in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos in early 2004. Details are available at the Seattle Opera’s website, at http://www.seattleopera.org/news/wire/0304season.asp , where she is referred to as a “major artist.” Her NC admirers knew this all along, of course.

CVNC joins her family and her many friends here in congratulating her on this engagement.