Monday, March 17, 2008 | This letter is about the NTC Promenade in Point Loma. The city of San Diego was deeded the land by the Navy, but the NTC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, is charged with raising funds to renovate the historic buildings.
The old barracks buildings were to be leased at below-market rates to arts organizations as part of the deal struck with the city. The organization to which I belong could not find a suitable building in the first phase (when rents were still affordable), so we have been waiting three years for phase two renovations to begin.
Recently, Alan Ziter, the Executive Director of the NTC Foundation, invited our group to visit Building 19 and we all agreed that would be the building we would move to. I prepared financial plans and submitted the packet of information requested by Mr. Ziter when he attended our board meeting to pitch the project to our new Directors.
I then followed up to schedule a meeting with the architects of the renovation project. Mr.Ziter and I agreed upon a date, and then the surprises began. The meeting was opened up to all arts organizations who had expressed interest in the next phase. When we all were seated, we were informed that Building 19 which had been promised to us and a small group of glass blowers, was now going to be leased to a large arts supply store.
The NTC Foundation cannot afford to lease the buildings at below-market rates to the arts organizations. The cost of renovations for one barracks building exceeds 6 million dollars. There is no money left to subsidize rents for artists. Once again, the arts get the shaft. What a colossal waste of our time!