Press Release Archive

 

Mountain Laurel Center Has New Lease on Life

Completion of Transaction with John Wolfington and Partners Gives Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts a New Lease on Life


BUSHKILL, PA —- The non-profit Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts (MLCPA) has completed its long-anticipated transaction with the newly formed Mountain Laurel Development Group (MLDG), led by developer and philanthropist John Wolfington, according to Andrew Forte, Chairman of MLCPA’s Board of Directors.

“This is a monumental day,” Forte said, “because the Mountain Laurel Center is finally positioned to make good on its promise to become a national destination for the performing arts, the region’s leading arts organization, and a model partner for arts-in-education with schools throughout the region.”

Under the terms of a ground lease agreement, Mountain Laurel Center’s 2,500-seat Tom Ridge Pavilion will become the centerpiece of a master planned mixed-use residential/commercial community that MLDG will build on 2,225 acres, including the existing Tamiment subdivision and most of the old Unity House Resort on Bushkill Falls Road, Bushkill, Pennsylvania.

Under the recorded memorandum of lease, the non-profit organization will control the performing arts center and approximately 42 acres surrounding it for existing lawn seating, parking, and support services at a cost of $1 per year for 29.5 years.

“Our vision is that the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts will be the focal point of a vital, environmentally friendly community,” said John Wolfington. “Any city, town, region, or residential development needs the arts to be complete, and to face the future. That’s why we are so pleased we can help Mountain Laurel Center remain independent and keep it as the beating heart of the new community we intend to build. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. We are grateful to the MLCPA Board for its continued cooperation and support.”

“This is an enlightened move by all concerned,” said Richard T. Bryant, CEO of the Mountain Laurel Center. “Chairman Forte, the members of our volunteer Board, government officials, and many others have worked day and night with John Wolfington and his partners to make this happen. Once completed, the new commercial components of the development will lead right to the Tom Ridge Pavilion. Nothing could be better to help establish the type of performing arts destination we envision.”

At the heart of the transaction was MLDG’s purchase of the $17 million in outstanding bonds issued by the Pike County Commercial and Industrial Development Authority (PCICDA) to help finance the construction of the Tom Ridge Pavilion. In exchange for payment of the bonds, and other consideration, PCICDA, with the concurrence of Pike County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, transferred ownership of the ground to MLDG, which in turn has leased the performing arts center facility back to the non-profit organization.

“For the majority of arts centers of this kind around the country, major developers become involved first,” Bryant said. “Once their projects are underway, then non-profit organizations are attracted to conceive and operate performing arts facilities and programs in the public interest. This creates enormous energy that attracts people, builds community, and provides far-reaching benefits to the region. Here, the center for the arts was built first, some years before the development interests arrived. It didn’t work. Now, thanks to the arrival of John Wolfington and the continued cooperation and hard work of many, it is all coming together.”

Through this transaction, MLCPA has eliminated more than $20 million in debt, including the bonds, much of the outstanding construction bill, and credit lines established during the construction period - all of which had seriously impeded operational success. “While some past obligations still remain,” said Chairman Forte, “we are now confident that this community can and will address them as we get on with the very real work of establishing a major performing arts organization capable of operating for decades to come.”

Members of Mountain Laurel Center’s Board of Directors are: Andrew Forte, Chairman; Andy Worthington, Treasurer; Howard Grossman, Acting Secretary; W. Peter Ahnert, Anna Cervenak, Virginia Kirkwood, Rosemary Driebe Olofsson, and Marc Troutman. Advisory Board members are: Robert Uguccioni, Executive Director of the Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau; Dave Wilson, President of the Pike County Industrial and Commercial Development Authority; and Rachel Hendricks, Vice President of the Pike County Industrial and Commercial Development Authority.

Attorney John Duke Schneider volunteered his firm’s services to CEO Richard Bryant and the MLCPA Board to assist them in finalizing this transaction. Weinstein, Schneider, Kannebecker & Lokuta is based in Milford, Pennsylvania.

Mountain Laurel Center’s Tom Ridge Pavilion features 2,500 covered seats and room under the stars for more than 5,000 on its comfortable and acoustically advanced lawn. Now that the transaction is complete, future plans for performances and education programs will be announced in six to eight weeks.

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For Additional Information, please contact:
Richard T. Bryant
CEO
Mountain Laurel Center
rtbryant@artsba.com
Winter Offices at Tamiment: 570.426.2096 x 104