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The Lexington Arts Center offers many benefits to the Lexington community and to the Midlands region. It enhances the quality of life offerings for the Lexington region consequently stimulating economic development. The economic development impact is significant:
1) Annual attendance projection - 116,244,
2) Attendance translates into ancillary spending associated with the facility as attendees eat, drink and/or shop before or after a performance,
3) Creation of new businesses increases sales & property tax base as well as business license fee base,
4) New jobs projection – 32-40,
5) Economic Impact – Appr. $2.2 M annually
For a summary of detailed projections of economic impacts directly related to the proposed Lexington Arts Center, click here.
For a summary of the economic impact of non-profit arts and cultural organizations and their audiences in the Lexington/Richland region, click on the following:
Arts and Economic Prosperity III / Greater Columbia, SC (June 2007) - Executive Summary NEW!
Arts and Economic Prosperity III / Greater Columbia, SC (June 2007) - Full Report NEW!
* Source is research conducted by the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties along with Americans for the Arts. Funding provided by the Central Carolina Community Foundation and SCE&G.
The following endorsements have been made in support of the Lexington Arts Center:
"In the beginning, you might say that I was a naysayer about the Arts Center project. I had concerns, just as others have had, about whether or not our area could support it – financially and otherwise. But after seeing the feasibility studies and positive feedback from the community, I’ve changed to a proponent of the Larry the Cable Guy philosophy: Git-R-Done!
Not only will the Lexington Arts Center provide cultural and educational enrichment, but it will provide a boost to our community’s economy as well. As a focal point, it will drive business for local restaurants and shops. Many large corporations also look to locate in communities with quality of life features.
I want to express my thanks to Chairman Phil Hamby and all the members of the Lexington Arts Center committee for their dedication, hard work and perseverance. They have certainly done their due diligence in gathering information to move this project forward. I hope you will embrace it, too!" – Lexington Life Magazine, June 2007
Randy Halfacre
Mayor of Lexington, SC
"I'm excited about a new arts center in Lexington . Cultural centers are proven magnets for economic development, and what's good for business in Lexington is good for the Midlands ."
Bob Coble
Mayor of Columbia , SC
“The Lexington Arts Center will enhance the quality of life for people all over the region. As the town continues to grow, quality of life issues will be more and more important. Parks, recreational opportunities, entertainment and much more will make the difference in whether or not Lexington is a good town or a great one. With the Arts Center, Lexington will take a giant step toward attaining greatness. Everybody wins.”
Mike Flack
Executive Director, Columbia Metropolitan Airport
“The addition of an arts center to our town will certainly enhance the position of Lexington as a cultural center. I commend the foresight of the “ARTS CENTER” leaders for giving the town of Lexington a place to meet, greet, entertain and enjoy the arts for our coming generations.”
Frank Mogan
Owner, Kitty’s Hallmark Cards & Gifts
“Leadership Lexington County recognizes that the arts are an integral part of developing future leadership for our area and as such, incorporates a segment of its leadership training around the arts and quality of life. Providing a diverse quality of life through the arts is proven to assist in driving economic development for an area. Accordingly, Leadership Lexington County strongly supports the creation of a central arts center in Lexington.”
Barbara Willm
President, Leadership Lexington County
“I believe it would be an asset to our town and business community to have a Fine Arts Center in Lexington. The center would bring people to the Town of Lexington that may not be familiar with our town. The Fine Arts Center would add to the quality of life of Lexington. This would really benefit the business & residential community, and I certainly would endorse having the center in Lexington.”
David Perry
President, David A. Perry & Associates, Inc.
Nationwide Insurance Agency
“The arts along with recreation enhances the quality of life for the citizens of Lexington County. They both assist in building community self-esteem along with increasing future investment and economic growth.”
John J. Criscione
Executive Director, Lexington County Recreation and Aging Commission
“Lexington School District One is where 'academics, the arts, athletics and caring people connect.' We are committed to a strong arts program as evidenced by our state and national award winning marching and symphonic bands, choral programs, strings programs and drama programs. A community Fine Arts Center would allow us to showcase these award winning programs and would provide our students with a professional performing arts experience. A Lexington Arts Center will enrich our community and support the talents of our youth.”
Dr. Karen Woodward, Superintendent
Lexington County School District One
“The Lexington Arts Center needs to make the transition from concept to reality. The market research conducted, overwhelmingly confirms the public opinion that the Lexington community has a void. That void can be filled with the creation and development of the Lexington Arts Center by corporate, public and private entities. Once the arts center is up and running we will wonder how we ever lived without it. We must find a way to make it happen.”
Todd Shevchik
Publisher, Lexington Life Magazine
Councilman, Town of Lexington
“Corporate leaders look at the whole community when they are making a decision on the long-term capital investment for their company. Local investment in the arts and culture can play a significant role in the image that our area puts forth and can be an important component in the move to a world-class community.”
Allen Burns
Executive Director, Lexington County Economic Development
“We have been residents of the Lexington Community for over thirty years. During that time, we participated in many community arts-related events and grew in our appreciation of the power that the arts have in enriching the quality of life for Greater Lexington. The development of the Lexington Arts Center will offer a heightened level of opportunities for new generations to experience the ‘Joy of the Arts.’”
Dr. and Mrs. Philip Smith
“As a resident of the Lexington community since 1948, I have seen many ways in which we have grown. Now is the time to build on our success story and focus on ways to strengthen our community’s cultural offerings by the creation of the Lexington Arts Center. By doing so, we will enhance the diverse positive aspects of our community and define a more positive legacy for our future generations.”
Virginia T. Hylton
Former Lexington Town Council Member - 17 years
“I am overwhelmed each day at the growth in Lexington and Lexington County. People come because of our excellent schools, efficient government and beautiful Lake Murray. But there is one missing ingredient in this mixture – an arts center for all of our residents. This is a critical need, and we must address the issue now.”
Rose Wilkins
Executive Board Member, Sandlapper Magazine
"The arts are important to any community, especially those experiencing rapid growth like Lexington County. The arts build community pride and presence, cross demographic barriers, and provide the necessary "quality of life" to attract the people and industry of the future. The Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties heartily supports the Lexington Arts Center project as it will become a signature building for the town and a home for arts experiences for all the citizens of the area."
Andrew Witt
Executive Director, Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties
“A Fine Arts Center for the Lexington Community is a brilliant idea just waiting to be realized. Once the concept is embraced and actualized by the community, it will serve to enhance the high standard and quality of life that we already experience. Show me a community where the arts are encouraged and supported and I will show you a place where commerce and the entire economy is thriving!”
Harold G. McIntosh
Founding Conductor, Lexington County Choral Society
“I applaud Lexington for recognizing the positive impact that the Lexington Arts Center will have on our community. The South Carolina Philharmonic has considered bringing performances to the town of Lexington, but the lack of a facility that would allow for a full orchestra and a large audience has made this impossible. When the grand opening ribbon is cut, the SC Philharmonic will already be on the performance calendar.”
Rhonda Hunsinger
Executive Director, South Carolina Philharmonic
“Concert venues serve their home communities -- but they also provide performing spaces for touring and regional acts. Scheduling multiple performances of the same program can make it economically feasible to mount shows and employ top notch performers.
Coliseum or stadium sized events don't have to be the only options out there. There are many quality groups that entertain at a reasonable sound level and you can enjoy them without the expense (and parking nightmare) of the colossal venues. Good performance facilities encourage good entertainment. There is a real need for medium sized venues like the one that is being proposed for Lexington. The arts will improve (and hopefully prosper) while their host communities are enriched by the diversity, number, and quality of the offerings.”
Dick Goodwin
The Dick Goodwin Big Band
“As the State Chairman of one of the largest scholarship programs offered for high school girls in America, we would love to have a facility in Lexington in which to put on our state program. Bringing the girls in from across the state, and then holding the scholarship performances in another city, is such a loss of revenue for Lexington in hotels and housing for all the families that attend.”
Vicki Hudson
State Chairman, South Carolina's Junior Miss Scholarship Program
“From a dance school perspective, a fine arts or performing arts center is, and has been a critical need for all residents of this growing community for a number of years. We need to sow the seeds now for a project in which all Lexington will benefit. A community that is growing as rapidly as Lexington must move forward to meet the cultural needs of the community. Accordingly, Stepping Out Dance Studio strongly supports plans to develop a fine arts center in Lexington.”
Fred & Ann Kelly
Stepping Out Dance Studio
“I hereby heartily endorse the planning and construction of a performing arts center in Lexington County, SC. I do so as a private individual and taxpayer in Lexington County, but also in my capacity as Artistic Director of the Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra.
Lexington County is growing and advancing in its role in the state and region. Now is the time to realize this and other worthy civic projects for the benefit of all in our community.”
Dr. Einar W. Anderson, Artistic Director
Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra
“Lexington is shaping its future now - and culture and arts will be a part of that future. Lexington is considering a "right sized" facility to stake its claim to cultural and arts leadership not only locally but regionally. We wish them well as they move forward. The Palmetto Mastersingers are enthusiastic about bringing music to the region, state and beyond. Lexington promises to be a great partner in that endeavor.”
David Mahrer, Executive Director
The Palmetto Mastersingers
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