LEPAA Chairman Tim Collins Discusses Fundraising And Future Plans For Performing Arts Center [AUDIO]

On the Friday edition of The Chad Hasty Show, Tim Collins, chairman of the Lubbock Entertainment/Performing Arts Association, (LEPAA) spoke with Chad Hasty and Rob Snyder about the latest progress with their performing arts center.

Yesterday, LEPAA announced that they have reached and exceeded their first fundraising goal of $45 million. To date, LEPAA has successfully raised $47.6 million in under 12 months. Collins said that now that the first major goal has been reached, planning of the new performing arts center can now begin.

"We had gifts from a hundred dollars to ten million. We had a great head start, we have to say that. We had ten million dollars gifts each from the Jones Foundation and the C.H Foundation...and every single gift is critical to us. And every single gift, to me, emphasizes the confidence that the community's putting in that this facility's going to be done, and it's going to be done the right way."

The announcement also means that the City of Lubbock will now begin to transfer the site of the old DPS building to LEPAA, and the city council plans to spend $300,000 to demolish the old building. Everything else, Collins said, is up to LEPAA and privately donated funds.

Collins also said that right now, construction is estimated at $85 million, and added they would like to raise an addition $30 million for endowments. The theater is also planned to contain 2,000 seats, though Collins said that they would be revisiting that number as planning and construction continues, and would depend on how economically feasible the seats would be in maintenance and ticket sales. Collins anticipates that, upon the center's completion, the center can be used for both major performances and smaller venues, as well as school events and local productions.

For more information on LEPAA and the performing arts center, visit their website at lepaa.org.

Listen to the complete interview with Tim Collins here: