The OAC Needs Your Advocacy!
There are two important funding issues before us that affect the Bath House Cultural Center and all the Office of Arts and Culture.
The City of Dallas has a biannual budget. Every two years each City Council member holds Town Hall meetings to discuss the City of Dallas Operations Budget. In these meetings citizens find out how the budget is allocated among the many City Departments. The Office of Arts and Culture is one of the Departments of the City and is responsible for the Bath House Cultural Center. We have a strong advocate in Council Member Paula Blackmon for championing full funding for the staff at the Bath House Cultural Center. The Bath House is in District 9 and the Town Hall meeting is Thursday, August 17th at Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, 9940 White Rock Trail, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
We encourage Friends to show up in support of the arts. If you are in another District, you can find out about the Town Hall meetings on the City of Dallas City Council website here. The City budget is set and approved by the City Council Members.
Every 5 years the City of Dallas holds a general election to approve Bonds for the Capital Improvement needs for the City. The last election was in 2017 and the Bath House Cultural Center was given $1.5M for renovations. The 2022 Bond Issue was deferred to this year because of the pandemic. Now the City is holding meetings to determine how capital funds from the bonds will be used by the City of Dallas.
It has been 17 years since the Bonds have allocated monies for the deferred maintenance on our Cultural Facilities, which includes the Bath House, the Majestic Theatre, Sammons Center, the Latino Cultural Center, The Oak Cliff Cultural Center, and the South Dallas Cultural Center; these are just a few of the buildings. The Office of Arts and Culture is asking for $50M for deferred maintenance on the buildings. For the Bath House, this means a new roof and paint. Other facilities are in worse shape, and we are asking that the Arts be allocated 6% of the funds. There are two upcoming meeting at City Hall for the Critical Facilities Meeting on Tuesday, August 15th at 6 pm and again on Tuesday, August 22nd at 6 pm in the City Hall Chambers, Floor 6.
If you are interested in learning more about the issues or attending a meeting please contact treasurer@friendsofthebathhouse.org.