Houlton Community Arts Center Capital Campaign

Receives $80,000 from LP Foundation

HOULTON: The Houlton Community Arts Center Council (HCACC) has received a donation of $80,000 from the LP Foundation grant to put toward the Council’s ongoing $2.5 million capital campaign drive.

“HCAC began working well over a year ago on applying for a new community impact grant offered by the LP Foundation. The hard work and effort on that application was well received by their committee and we became one of the first communities to receive their grant award,” stated Joe Fagnant, president of HCACC. “One of the factors in receiving this gift at this time in our funding campaign was the community support of the project through the bond referendum. LP Foundation trustees wanted to see momentum on our project before making the donation. The fact that the November vote passed with an overwhelming majority met the requirements for the donation of the funds towards HCACC.”

Louisiana-Pacific’s Houlton Plant Manager Skip Cleary said, “We are proud to be able to partner with the people of this community in support of the arts center through this Community Impact Grant. We look forward to seeing the expanded facility completed and attending arts and community events there for years to come.”

“Grants of this magnitude will assist us not only in raising immediate funds, but will show other granting entities that we have been successful in our efforts and that our request is compatible with their giving programs towards the arts,” said Dave McGillicuddy, co-chairperson of the fundraising committee. “It is fantastic to have a local company that is expanding their operations in our community assist us in our expansion efforts to bring an arts facility to the Southern Aroostook area.”

LP broke ground in September, 2006, to expand its current facility in order to produce laminated strand lumber (LSL), an engineered wood product that meets home construction demands for alternative engineered products in lumber applications. Production of LSL manufactured at Houlton is slated to begin in early 2008 and will be marketed under the brand name LP SolidStart® LSL. The facility will be one of the few producers of LSL in North America, and will employ approximately 162 people.

The Center will allow for an expanded selection of arts-related programs and services for the community, separate band, chorus, theatre and dance space, increased storage space, and a larger stage to accommodate performances and exhibits.

The LP Foundation Community Impact Grant program was instituted in 2006 to provide major one-time grants that make a significant impact on the quality of life in communities where LP operates. The HCACC grant was one of the first three made in the new program. The LP Foundation is the charitable arm of Louisiana-Pacific Corporation.

The Houlton Community Arts Center Council and fundraising committee has planned an aggressive fundraising campaign for the next seven months. This 501C3 organization is seeking to raise $2.5 million in private funds to match the November bond referendum. More information about the campaign can be received by calling Joe Fagnant at 532-6551 or going to http://www.houltonarts.org/.

There was a recent article in the September 17, 2007 edition of the Bangor Daily News about a $100,000 donation to the Houlton Community Arts Center project from FAPeabody company and you can find the full article here.

http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/aroostook.aspx?articleid=154329&zoneid=175

Houlton Community Arts Center Wraps Up Summer Activities

The Houlton Community Arts Center Council and fundraising committee members have been hard at work this summer continuing their efforts to organize and raise funds for the fine arts wing expansion project of Houlton High School. Several key meetings have taken place with fundraising consultant BHC Consulting Group from Bangor. The organizational meetings have lead up to members working on the asking of major donors over the course of the summer. The process has gone well and the committee is reporting strong successes with contacting individuals and businesses.

Many hours have also been spent this summer working with the MSAD #29 School Board and superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick on organizing the upcoming November referendum that will positively impact a major renovation goal and also the expansion project. HCACC president Joe Fagnant met with Mr. Fitzpatrick, school board members, school legal council and other HCAC members to discuss how the referendum process will be organized and what the language will look like for the referendum. The main body of the referendum will support a $2.5 million renovation portion to complete HHS projects and a $2.5 million portion to go to the expansion project, to be matched by $2.5 million in private funds currently being raised.

HCAC fundraising committee members Steve Nelson and Torrey Sylvester, along with superintendent Fitzpatrick, presented the project and bond information at town meetings in Littleton, Monticello and Houlton. Arrangements are currently being made to meet with the Hammond board. A key area of the presentation was how the bond money will support immediate changes at HHS while being paid off over twenty years with money that is already built into the current budget system. There were great questions that came about from the different panel discussions and the presenters felt that the individual town councils were interested in the process and progress of the project.

Fundraising committee chairs Fred Grant, Dave McGillicuddy and Liz Anderson were active in kicking off the donation seeking process and organizing various public events including information booths set up at different venues through out the summer. Ann Joy assisted in staffing the information booths, where board members and volunteers greeted visitors with explanations of floor plans, handed out information pamphlets and gave out wristbands with the “Artstrong” motto and the HCAC web site: houltonarts.org.

Upcoming events include a full HCACC board meeting on August 29^th, ongoing fundraising committee meetings and public information meetings. The HCACC will assist the school board with educating the public at two meetings: September 6^th and October 18^th held at Houlton High school from 5-8pm.

A lot of organization, planning and activities have taken place this summer. Great things are coming together for this much needed project and more details will be forthcoming from the Houlton Community Arts Center Council.

The Greater Houlton area is strong in the arts and has been for many generations. Since the arts play such a crucial role in our area’s identity we thought there should be a way for community members to show their support of our continuing arts tradition. Don’t have your wristband yet? Pick one up at one of the events listed in our calendar and wear it with pride!