Harford Business Ledger

Havre de grace a&E district : the vision
By Mary Paramore, HBL Associate Editor
08/01/08

If the vision of about 45 community leaders, artists, musicians and citizens who attended an informational meeting about Havre de Grace’s new Arts & Entertainment District designation comes to fruition, the city will be an arts Mecca and showcase by 2013.

Picture this as an overlay to the city’s historic bayside ambiance: live performance artists on street corners, creative duck decoy sculptures tucked here and there, fountains, murals, a restored opera house and theatre, an outdoor amphitheatre, an arts academy, music and art-related businesses filling every vacant building, bistro-style restaurant seating, a microbrewery, outdoor arts workshops and, perhaps the most ambitious goal of all, Havre de Grace High School designated as an arts and entertainment magnet school.

The July 31 meeting was hosted by Gallery Roca owner Robert Cappalletti and led by Mitch Shank, MainStreet Havre de Grace A&E Committee chairman. After a few words by Havre de Grace Mayor Wayne Dougherty, Shank introduced Historic Preservation Commission member Kathy Keen. She shared her experience renovating an historic structure and receiving tax credit, which came as a “substantial check in the mail,” she said.

Keen urged attendees to check out state and federal tax credits for historic preservation at www.marylandhistorictrust.net, but warned that the rules can be changed during each legislative session and that she had to declare the tax credit check as income. According to recent estimates, there are potentially 1,000 “contributing properties” within the city’s National Register of Historic Places district that could qualify for credits.

Meghan McDonough, economic development director for Havre de Grace, explained economic incentives that come along with the A&E designation. These include income tax subtraction for qualifying residing artists in the district, exemptions from the Maryland Admission and Amusement Tax and real property tax credits for renovating manufacturing, commercial or industrial space for a qualifying residing artist or an arts and entertainment enterprise.

McDonough will be meeting with county officials to see whether Harford County will extend tax credits to complement local and state tax incentives available through the A&E designation.

Shank said the new A&E district and the MainStreet designation boundairies now align, encompassing more than 92 acres of downtown. He said the committee wanted to make the district larger, but the state allowed for no more than 100 acres in the initial application. The district is presently bounded by Otsego Street on “this side of the bridge,” the west side of Freedom Lane, the northern side of Girard Street and the waterfront, excluding the marinas. Shank said the city can apply to expand the boundaries.

what's happening now

Arts enthusiasts don’t have to wait for the vision of Havre de Grace’s new Arts & Entertainment district designation to come about. At an informational meeting July 31, the MainStreet Havre de Grace A&E committee announced their plans to generate energy for existing arts businesses and a few new initiatives.

On Sept. 21, the first of what MainStreet hopes is a monthly Downtown Arts Crawl that will tour the city’s studios and galleries. The crawl will take visitors on a circuit of existing arts and entertainment businesses. Organizers plan live music and working artists along the route.

Wendy McNally announced she would open the Havre de Grace Music Academy, a division of the Maryland Conservatory of Music, at 500-A Warren Street this September. An academy she opened in North Carolina attracted 42 top music teachers and hundreds of students, and she plans the same for the Havre de Grace Music Academy.

The non-profit will offer private and group lessons, community performances, musicianship classes, recitals, master classes, sister school exchanges and much more. Maryland Conservatory of Music founder Duke Thompson was at the July 31 meeting to show his organization’s commitment to the project.

Thompson said the Conservatory’s Bel Air location launch had been successful because he had funds from a founding donor to work with and asked for corporate sponsors to support the Havre de Grace division. Robert Cappalletti, owner of Gallery RoCa where the informational meeting was held, offered his business as a setting for fund raisers and performances. Local artist Lee Alban, whose work is presently shown in Gallery RoCa, raised his hand and will donate a painting and conduct live demonstrations to draw support to the Havre de Grace Music Academy.

Mitch Shank, chairman of MainStree’t A&E committee, said that the committee would open a commission-based art gallery, also on Warren Street. The gallery will be called Havre de Grace Arts by the Bay Gallery and will operate under the direction of Pat Fair rent-free for one year, thanks to the support of Chad Tate and Les McFadden.