In Thursday’s (4/9) Stamford Advocate (Connecticut), Brian Lockhart reports, “Even as the Stamford Center for the Arts tries to emerge from bankruptcy, it may be losing some financial support from the state. The two-year budget proposed by legislative Democrats last week did not preserve any of the line-item funding in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years. ‘We didn’t think it was a wise use of taxpayer money to fund an organization that is in bankruptcy,’ said state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, co-chairman of an appropriations subcommittee that makes recommendations on tourism funding. The arts center, which also owns the Palace Theatre at 61 Atlantic St., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last summer in state Superior Court in Bridgeport after experiencing financial distress for several years. … State Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, said he believes there was a misunderstanding at the Capitol about what the bankruptcy filing meant for the center. ‘(There is) a difference between a reorganization and a liquidation,’ McDonald said. ‘Some folks thought it was closing down, which couldn’t be further from the truth. They are repositioning themselves in the marketplace to emerge from bankruptcy leaner and stronger.’ ” The center is home to the Stamford Symphony Orchestra and the Young Artists Philharmonic.
Posted April 10, 2009
