Present

Munroe Center for the Arts signed a license agreement (temporary lease) with the Town of Lexington in August 2009 for $24,000/year, retroactive to October 2008.

History

Prior to the new license, Munroe Center for the Arts operated without a lease. When it published the Invitation for Occupancy Request for Proposals in June, 1994, the town solicited both “price” and “non-price” proposals. MCA's successful reply to the RFP fell into the latter category. The RFP states: “The original intent for usage of the converted Munroe School building was to provide studio space for local artists who in turn are required to provide coordinated, comprehensive education arts programs for the youth and adults of the community. This spirit of providing arts education remains the main and only intent for occupancy of the building….”

"Significant investment has been made in the building during the last three years. More importantly, the center has been transformed from a small colony of artists who happen to offer education programs to our citizens to a community center with a central mission of providing art education. It is impossible to put a price on this transformation"
-- Town Manager Rick White, 1997

Although the “spirit of providing arts education remains the main and only intent for occupancy of the building,” the RPF also stated that  the Town is “particularly interested in proposals that provide a plan for capital upgrades of the facility.”  Alongside arts education, maintenance of the building has become an accepted part of the understanding of the deal between Munroe and the Town. “As you may recall,” said Town Manager Rick White, in 2002, “the original conditions of the current ‘at will' lease arrangement grants the Munroe Center use of the facility without rent, provided however that it continued to operate the Center so that it serves the community's arts education needs and that responsibility for maintenance of the Munroe rests with the MCA.”

Since 1996 (when MCA's financial records became digitized), the Center has invested more than $80,000 in pro bono professional services from board members and $225,000 cash in maintenance and capital improvements to the Munroe school building. This information is published in our 2009 Business Plan on the home page. Lexington's 2007 capital needs assessment of the building, moreover, describes it as in “fair to good condition.”

To put the history in context, charging nominal or minimal rent to community art centers using old town-owned buildings is typical in the region. As demographics changed and town buildings were surplussed in the 1980s, many towns saw use by arts centers as a good deal for their towns. Here is a chart of a few comparable community arts centers (data is from 2006-2007).

Community Art Centers Regionally