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108 East Madison Avenue Berryville, Arkansas 72616 |
Ozarts and the Grand View |
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Grand View Hotel Ozarts News, Columns, and Writing Pictures |
By Alexander Virden
Grand View Denied Funding I am writing to set all records straight. I do believe the old adage that honesty is the best policy, even though it has gotten me some negative feedback in the past. We have made some drastic cutbacks and changes in our plan and I want everyone to understand what’s going on with the Grand View and Ozarts. There are a lot of people with bits and pieces, the rumor mill is cranking out tons of flour and I’m going to sift through it, to get the truth out, so were all eating from the same loaf. At the beginning of September two investment properties, I had under contract to sell, failed to close. These properties represented the money required to finish the Grand View Hotel. This left me with a serious cash flow problem for the Ozarts/Grand View project. While the properties have been placed back on the market, anyone who has watched the news, in the last year, knows that property sales are very slow going right now. I assembled a lending package, that included our progress and plans for the hotel, and went to my primary lender for additional funds to allow us to continue work on the hotel in the interim. I have sixty percent equity remaining, between the Grand View and Ozarts buildings. If you consider that my home is also attached to the loan I actually have an eighty percent equity position on the loan, to the banks twenty. I have a good credit record and, I believed, a genuine working relationship with my lender, I did not think this new loan would represent a problem. Especially since we had made tremendous progress on the hotel. Removing over 200 cubic yards of stuff I don’t even want to describe, restoring the plumbing and electrical, in addition to the incredible amount of prep work that will allow us to start painting next month, and we had everything lined up to open by April. I assembled a rather extensive business plan and asset evaluation and presented it to the bank. Just before the second Circle the Square, the music events Ozarts produced for Berryville last summer, I got the word that my request for additional funds was denied. To say this pulled the carpet from under my work boots would be the definition of understatement. I was absolutely stunned, but Sandra and I, froze smiles on our faces, and pulled it together for the show. After we got through that, I went to work looking for a loan. I spent the next eight weeks, though now that I write about it, it’s hard to believe it was only two months, going to almost every bank in town. When the Chamber of Commerce held it’s annual gala, and was so kind as to give Ozarts an award, we were in the darkest hour. It was heartbreaking to make that march up to the stage and give an acceptance speech. I don’t even remember what I said. What I was thinking was, ‘I’m sorry, it was a beautiful dream, but it’s over. I’m forty six years old and I’m about to lose everything.’ I ran out of time, before getting to every single bank, but in truth it had become a lesson in futility. After my primary bank had refused me, the results were rather grim. The whole project was in danger of collapse. I had to take the nuclear option of an unsecured loan, because I have my home tied up to secure the hotel loan. To compound my troubles, my repeated attempts at financing had lowered my credit score, and shot up the interest rate I ended up paying. If you hear a squeal coming from Ozarts at the beginning of the month that’s just me making the payment. There were some other factors that got us to this point. Cleaning out the building cost us easily five times what we had originally thought. Once the building was dug out, we discovered the plumbing and electrical were not as far along as we’d been led to believe. The result being, both of those things cost many times more and took much longer to get done, though we were very lucky to have Star Electric and CSR Plumbing to see us through this quagmire of disjointed work. The end result is that we are three times over budget for how much we’ve gotten done thus far. Where do we go from here? Right now we’re in survival mode. We, Sandra, Erin, and myself, are still working on the hotel, but until one of the properties close, I can no longer hire outside contractors to do work to speed us along. We have enough to pay for refinishing the floors, on the first floor, but everything else we’re going to have to do. If you’ve ever remodeled a house on your own, multiply what you went through by fifteen bathrooms, then add the pressure of your whole life depending on your succeeding, and you’ll have some idea of what we’re dealing with. Even once the properties sell we will have to be very conservative, because we have to get it done with the money on the table. I already know from my recent bank experience that we’re on our own. The end of April is still the target for opening the first floor and commercial spaces, but the upper floors and the hotel are totally on hold. We are going to live on the third floor and devote our efforts to the commercial spaces on the first floor. We no longer have the luxury to do things exactly as we would like. We have to make all our decisions based on a much tighter budget. Ozarts will continue to operate, focused on production projects. I need to raise about twenty thousand dollars to get the necessary computers and software to teach the animation and film classes. Since I won’t be hiring as much outside labor, I won’t be able to devote time to Ozarts until the ground floor is open. The gallery will be open by appointment and for gallery events. If you’re in the area, try calling, if one of us can break away from the hotel, we’ll be more than happy to open the gallery for you. This does not mean Ozarts will be idle. I will be producing promotional video for Berryville, centered on the square, the towns history, and tourist oriented aspects of Berryville, starting with a documentary on the Saunders Museum. This will be part of a bigger project to record the history of Carroll County. My final word is patience. Please be patient. We will be open the very first day possible. We’re sleeping in the back of Ozarts, huddled around a couple of space heaters. Were you to walk in the back, the first thing you’d notice are the blankets everywhere. We shower in an unheated bathroom, in the hotel. If you’ve ever seen us walking past the post office, carrying a towel, now you know why. We live the hotel 24/7. If we’re not working on it, we’re talking about it, even in our sleep. If you would like to contribute to the restoration of the Grand View. You can do so at any Arvest Bank, by donating to the Ozarts account. We have not yet attained Federal non-profit status, but I assure you every penny collected will go towards the renovation. Ozarts Center for the Arts 108 East Madison Avenue, Berryville. (Across from the post office.) Ozarts.org (870) 654-3231 Alexander@Ozarts.org Open by appointment.
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