Arts Funding

Avoidable death Your editorial on the tragic death of police Sgt. Timothy Simpson ("A time to grieve again," Wednesday) does not mention the most important contributing factor: a career criminal driving a lethal weapon while under the influence. He should have been behind bars, not behind the wheel. Joseph Fox Ormond Beach, Fla. The pain ahead Re: "Bracing for the cuts in arts and culture," Wednesday: How fortunate we are to have such a brilliant, broad, deep base of arts and culture in Philadelphia.

Five decades ago, I was a Narberth-born diehard Phillies fan growing up east of the Main Line. My career as an exploration geologist eventually brought me to Denver, where the oil bust of the mid-'80s left me with a healthy severance check and an entrepreneurial spirit. In 1988, I opened the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountain West and began a career involving multiple restaurants, downtown real estate development, and service on many civic boards. With absolutely no political experience, I was deemed the unlikeliest of candidates in 2003, when I threw my hat in the Denver mayoral race against six seasoned political veterans.

Standing inside a well-known Philadelphia theater beside some of the people who make its productions possible, mayoral candidate Chaka Fattah yesterday said he would boost city-funded arts and cultural grants by $4 million during his four-year term, and push for tax incentives to draw more Philadelphia-based movies and shows. He also proposed to fully fund the city's $6 million share of the operating costs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which in recent years has received less than half that amount.

Philadelphia mayoral candidate U.S. Rep. Bob Brady will today release a plan to use the city's Percent for Art program to create an endowment providing annual funding to all arts and cultural groups. In a plan to be unveiled this afternoon at New Freedom Theatre in North Philadelphia, Brady will also propose requiring developers who wish to take advantage of the city's Tax Increment Financing program to participate in Percent for Art. Revising and expanding Percent for Art, Brady's plan suggests, would create a $45 million annual "dedicated funding stream" for arts and cultural groups in the city.

City Council yesterday OKd a plan to borrow $150 million to fund capital improvements at local arts facilities and face-lifts for city commercial corridors. The approval came despite last-minute protests from Council members who warned that the plan amounted to a political slush fund that would burden City Hall with dangerous levels of debt. The initiative, a centerpiece of Mayor Street's legislative agenda, had appeared to be in trouble just a day earlier, with six council members - enough to stymie the plan - expressing doubts.

Mayor Street's effort to borrow $150 million to finance capital improvements in city commercial corridors and arts institutions has run into significant opposition - a week after a City Council committee unanimously OKd the plan. Though a final vote had been expected as early as today, several Council sources said yesterday that support had eroded in the face of lobbying by recreation activists and the city's firefighters' union, which says it is unfair to fund face-lifts for private art spaces while public facilities are in dire shape.

Judging from the rush for free tickets to this week's Center City Arts & Culture Fest, the allure of culture is strong - especially at the right price. Special promotions like the Oct. 19-22 festival - see details at http://go.philly.com/artsfest - give audiences a welcome chance to sample the city and region's rich cultural offerings. Every arts patron, though, knows there is no free lunch for theaters, galleries, concert halls and museums during the rest of the year. In fact, the only people who continue to believe in that fairy tale may be local and state elected officials.

In a move being applauded more for its potential policy implications than its financial punch, the Pennsylvania General Assembly is expected to consider legislation that would open up a steady stream of new operating money to arts and culture groups statewide. Aspects of two separate bills could be combined into one, providing about $7.8 million a year to Pennsylvania arts groups. Senate Bill 687, introduced by three state senators, is an amendment to the Johnstown Flood Tax, originally enacted to channel emergency funds to Johnstown after one of its devastating floods (1936)

Already stumping for hundreds of millions of dollars to raise new buildings, bolster endowments and rejuvenate the visitor experience, cultural leaders are stunned by the revelation that the Philadelphia Museum of Art intends to raise $500 million for the largest arts project in the city's history. "Wow," said Peter B. Lane, president of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, of the sheer size of the Art Museum's goal. "I haven't heard a number any larger in this town. " "Yikes," said Janice C. Price, president of the Kimmel Center, which is trying to raise $90 million for endowment, debt reduction, or a combination of both.