City Treasurer: Community Center Renovation Will Have To Wait

The job would take about $50 million.

On Capital Public Radio's Insight with Beth Ruyak today, Richard Lewis with California Musical Theatre said upgrading the community center would bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"It's important not only to accommodate the issues related to the ADA Act, the folks that we need to take care of in our disabled community, it's also important that the rest of the patrons have a much more enjoyable experience."

Lewis says that includes creating a bigger lobby and more restrooms.

But City Treasurer Russell Fehr says the funding's not available right now. Fehr says the soonest the project could go forward would be the middle of next year.

"We use hotel tax to finance these kinds of cultural amenities and during the recession the hotel tax fell by 20% and in the immediate here and now there isn't enough money."

Fehr says a combination of debt-financing and $12 million already committed to the project could allow the renovation to begin next fiscal year.