WFCR, WGBY, WAMC, ACTV. The Amherst History Museum, the Civil War plaques, the Jones Library, Arcadia Players, Music at Deerfield, Mohawk Trail, Musicorda, Aston Magna, the Fine Arts Center, Pleasant Street Cinema and the Academy of Music. It's that time of year when every good cause sends fund-raising letters. Those are just some of history- and arts-related organizations that have my address. Add to that the social causes from the Survival Center, Habitat, programs for battered women in heterosexual or lesbian relationships, and for men in gay relationships, the Food Bank. Then there are the environmental groups; in addition to the national, international or regional organizations, there are plenty of deserving local ones, including Save the Mountain, the Kestrel Trust, and the Hitchcock Center.
And my point is? I believe we have important organizations in this area that genuinely need more funds than we contribute to them. I certainly can't respond to all the financial requests I get. I also can't go to all the concerts I'd like to hear; at $15 or more a ticket, I choose music I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy, and even so there are isn't enough time.
So, frankly, although it would be wonderful to have a lively "venue" downtown, I can't share the enthusiasm for the Amherst Cinema project. $5 million to $6.5 million to refurbish the building is a lot of money; and then there are the operating costs. The Academy of Music in Northampton has repeatedly had to beg for money from the state and the community, and free labor from union members, to fix its roof and update the interior and keep open. The Pleasant Street theater looks, unfortunately, like it's barely hanging on. I haven't been to the Shays Theater in Turner's Falls, but I'm sure they draw most of their audience (most of their casts, too) from beyond the Montague town boundaries. I am concerned that there isn't enough accumulated wealth or audience to support so many buildings.
As for state funds, I've read recently that state tax collections have already dropped, before the tax cuts that were unfortunately voted in November take effect. University departments are trying to find savings and worrying about possible hiring freezes already. The legislature and governor didn't allocate enough funds to maintain the buildings on campus during the boom economy; I can't imagine they will be more generous when they are facing major cash flow problems.
It pains me to raise these questions, because I am an enthusiastic supporter of vibrant downtowns. I'd love to have films I want to see shown in Amherst (although who knows what films would be shown they would have to draw a large enough audience to help pay for the place). While I can understand why the New World Theater wants its own home, as both a performer and an audience member I think the High School has served Valley Light Opera well, and VLO in turn has helped the High School's stage and lighting facilities a lot. Similarly, I enjoy hearing concerts at Amherst College, UMass' Bowker Auditorium, or in the various churches in town where Arcadia Players and others perform. I imagine that the rent paid to the churches by the concert promoters is helpful to the churches and their efforts to maintain their large old halls, too.
Finally, I wonder, if the proposed design of the Amherst Cinema were successfully implemented, and they were able to draw full houses to two films and a theatrical production on the same evening: where would those 470 people park about 200 cars?