Funding & History

Helping Us Succeed

We thank the following organizations for their generous support for the 2007-2008 Season:
Cascade Cosmetic Surgery & Skin Care Center
City of Burlington
City of Mount Vernon
Hampton Inn & Suites
Skagit County Public Facilities District
Skagit State Bank
Skagit Valley College
White Light Photographics

The overwhelming support and vision of John and Shirley McIntyre provided McIntyre Hall not only with its name, but also a foundation on which to build this wonderful performing arts and conference center. McIntyre Hall is also thankful to be a recipient of the City of Burlington hotel-motel tax, the City of Mount Vernon hotel-motel tax and the state office of Community, Trade, and Economic Development (CTED). These much needed funds have gone into marketing materials to promote McIntyre Hall and Skagit County. Their continued support has allowed us to market McIntyre Hall to the rest of the state of Washington.

The grant from CTED allowed us to complete some areas needing attention including additional stage equipment, ADA accommodations on the restroom doors, and many other items. Thank you to Dan Arthun at CTED and the SPAC for this grant. It means a lot to our community.

History: A Community In Need of A Performing Arts Venue

Below are a few highlighted results of the marketing research conducted by ArtsVision®. The results presented indicate the need for the development of a performing arts center in the Skagit Valley.

Survey Results

Skagit County has the largest number of performing arts organizations per capita in Washington State. Yet, Skagit County has no single venue devoted solely to the performing arts.
Skagit residents indicate strong approval of the performing arts center, even if it is not in their town. 74%
87% would prefer a location near the I-5 corridor (41% Downtown Mount Vernon- 23% Burlington- 23% Skagit Valley College).
70% of Skagit County residents attend performing arts events in Mount Vernon.
41% of Skagit County residents attend a live performance at least five times a year.
32% of residents claim that the arts play a "major role" in their lives (this is higher than the national average of 28%).
66% of Skagit residents told us they would attend more cultural events if they were held in a better facility.
Just 13 of the largest groups alone had 151 performances and 443 rehearsals, drawing audiences of 60,000. This does not count school events.
The performing arts center will house a wide variety of local performing arts programs; some touring performances; and many meetings, conferences and lectures in the conference center. The Public Facilities District, who will work to maintain balanced access for usage, will write scheduling and management policies.
There are over 2,500 active performing artists each season. The arts population is due public support similar to parks and recreation funding for athletics.
The PAC will benefit business by boosting the local economy, enhance and promote our county, attract diverse and important constituencies, and revitalize the College Way neighborhood.
For every $1 spent on the arts, approximately $4 in revenue is generated through restaurant, hotel, retail sales, and transportation.
Multiple venue towns from Ashland, Oregon to New York City, demonstrate how the Lincoln Theater and the new PAC will co-exist and support each other.

History: Funding

Over 75 percent of the funds had been identified. It was up to our community to raise the last $4 million to complete funding for the Skagit Performing Arts and Conference Center.

The Project Budget

Tennis Court Relocation: $ 265,000.00

Total Budget: $ 17,105,000.00