Fairfield First salutes the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center and the City of Fairfield for structuring a public-private partnership that supports the continued success of our Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts. Our Arts and Convention is a world-class venue at the heart of our Cultural and Entertainment District. The success of the private fundraising to cover the existing leases and the intelligent and strategic use of a small portion of the local option sales tax has made the option to transfer ownership of our facility painless.
The citywide referendum on May 4th was overwhelming approved by a vote of 1607 in favor, only 808 against.
This endeavor affected many of the organizations that make up the Fairfield First family and and call our Arts and the Convention Center their home:
Fairfield Musicians Club
Fairfield Chamber Music Society
Fairfield Concert Association
1st Fridays Art Walk
Fairfield Area Community Theater
Way Off Broadway
Parsons College Wall of Fame
Tri-State Summit
National Rural Entrepreneurial Gathering
40th Annual Iowa Artists State Show
Fairfield First/Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association/Fairfield Volunteer Center Annual Banquet
The mission of Fairfield First is to nourish and grow the local, sustainable economy and encourage folks to buy local. You can help make the use of the local option sales tax neutral by shifting your spending to independent local merchants by only 12.5% annually.
If you still have any doubt about the issue, you should see Finding Fairfield, the short film about why people are moving to Fairfield. (Hint: it is not just the coffee.) It will be shown at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center tonight at the celebration from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. The event will include music by Dennis Albee, one man band and refreshments.
We couldn’t even get to this point without the tireless work of the FACC board of directors led by Bob Moore, Mark Cohen, Bob Ferguson and Pat McMahon.
Viability of our Arts and Convention Center has a face and a champion. It is Rustin Lippincott, director of the Center as well the Fairfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. He and his team have put our Arts and Convention Center, operationally and financially, on solid ground.
Mayor Ed Malloy and City Council member Myron Gookin have been strong advocates for the public-private partnership.
We also salute our local bank, Iowa State Bank and Trust Company of Fairfield and President Jon Simplot, who supported downtown revitalization and our Arts and Convention Center from day one and are having to write down part of their loan as a de facto contribution.