The Bellingham City Council voted to grant $75,000 to the non-profit Pickford Film Center so that it can build a new larger cinema and a new tourism spot for downtown.
The Pickford Film Center is $75,000 closer to having the funding to bring its “dream space” to life, as the Bellingham City Council met Monday and voted unanimously in favor of a grant from the Tourism Fund.
This is the second of two grants received in the last week, the other being $250,000 from the state capital budget. Now, the organization only has $100,000 left to meet the goal of $3.25 million for the project, said Alice Clark, director of the Pickford Film Center.
The funds are going to help finish the development of a new cinema location on Bay Street. The project will create space for two screens, 250 seats, and a large lobby and café for concessions.
It has been estimated that the new location will bring 300 people per day to the downtown core, according to Carey Ross, Pickford projectionist.
The most recent grant of $75,000 from the Tourism Fund was supported by the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. According to Monday’s City Council Agenda Bill, the new venues will “benefit all the arts and cultural organizations in Bellingham due to the volume of programming and visitors it brings to downtown, supporting both the Whatcom Museum and the overall Arts District as well.”
With the slogan, “More than Movies!” the Pickford Film Center is a non-profit arts organization that was started in 1998. It is powered 365 days a year by over 2,000 members and is sponsored by local businesses, Ross said. Rocket Donuts is one of the biggest sponsors, and the movie experience is complete with a chance to win a free pint of ice cream from Mallards Ice Cream, another contributor.
“It has a lot of personality and the people there really love their films,” said Brie Phillips, a Western student there to see the current playing movie, “The Runaways.” “It’s definitely an experience.”
Taxpayers worry where dollars are going
Recent additions to the funding have not come without controversy, however.
On April 25, The Bellingham Herald Editorial Board wrote an editorial describing the state’s $250,000 grant to the Pickford as a demonstration of the governor’s inability to prioritize.
David Huey, vice president of the North Pacific Division for 7-Eleven, Inc., said he hopes the Pickford does well, but that it is the wrong time to be spending taxpayers’ money on a project like this when cuts to education and other state programs are being made. Anytime an investment is made, it is debatable whether the outcomes will match what was expected, he said.
Supporters of the grant going to the Pickford have explained that the money came from the capital budget, which is separate from the operating budget. The operating budget covers the day-to-day state funded programs, such as state patrol, prisons and public education, while the capital budget goes to building projects and renovations, Huey said.
“Capital budget or operational budget, it’s still tax dollars,” Huey said. “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is not small jelly beans however you look at it.”
Pickford to help other businesses
The new Pickford project will not just benefit the organization itself, but instead will bring economic stimulus to all of downtown as people will eat dinner and get drinks after a movie, Ross said.
“I really want for our project to help revitalize the downtown because we think it’s an important neighborhood to do that in,” Clark said.
Steve Meyers, a projectionist for the Pickford, emphasized the visibility of the new location and that it would be a new tourism spot. Right now, the theater is hard to see unless it is the destination of choice already, he said.
“This is a time where things are starting to come back up,” Meyers said. “You have to put money into things that will bring more money later.”
Businesses near the new location are looking forward to the presence of a new hot spot in downtown, according to Jonathan Lawson, owner of the Black Drop Coffeehouse on West Champion Street. There is nothing bad about “more people coming to our little neck of the woods”, he said.
“I hope to capitalize on the increasing foot traffic,” Lawson said. If the shop’s revenues will increase, Lawson will be more than happy to see some of his tax dollars go to the Pickford, he said.
The Bay Street location is slated to open late this year, but further donations will be necessary to keep construction going, said Clark.
According to the meeting minutes, Council Member Terry Bornemann told the Bellingham City Council that he hopes the tourism funding will encourage donors to put money forward.
“They’re real close and this is the opportunity now to get behind it because the finish line is right there and it is a great project,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Pickford on Cornwall Avenue is still up and running, with highlights from the Seattle Children’s Film Festival starting May 22 and a film titled “Babies” starting May 28.
Donations to the Pickford Film Center can be made online at www.pickfordcinema.org.
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