About a month after initially voting to bring back a resolution to provide $100,000 for the public use of the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC), which benefited from a standalone levy until the passage of House File 718 last year, the Marshalltown city council narrowly rejected granting the request by a 4-3 tally during Monday night’s meeting as Councilor Al Hoop flipped his vote.

As it did back in February, the agenda item generated vigorous discussion and debate from those both for and against granting the request. After the loss of the levy, the leadership of the MACC, which was long known as the Fisher Community Center before it was rebranded with the permission of Bill Fisher’s family upon its 2022 reopening, asked for a one-year, $100,000 agreement using Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) dollars.

Councilor Gary Thompson was the first to speak on the issue and commended all 231 nonprofits in Marshalltown for their work to improve the community, but with the consolidation of levies and the decision on spending the money now falling to the city council, he didn’t feel he could find a valid reason to vote for it.

“Yes, I want to keep the Fisher Community Center here in town. Yes, they do a great job, but from the agreement, what’s being offered to the city, to the taxpayers, is a free room for nonprofits to meet in at a cost of $100,000. So that’s where I have a problem,” Thompson said. “All of the library’s six meeting rooms are free for nonprofits. We have a room in the Coliseum that is free for nonprofits to meet in, so it’s hard for me to justify to people that call me that I voted to spend $100,000 for an eighth meeting room. And I just can’t do that, and it’s hard for me to say that this nonprofit is more deserving than any of the other 230 nonprofits.”

Fellow Councilor Greg Nichols described himself as a supporter of the MACC but also felt concern about the city’s budget and deciding which nonprofits were deserving of taxpayer dollars.

“From my perspective, it’s really not the city’s job, from taxpayers, to finance nonprofits. It is my job as a citizen to finance nonprofits,” he said.

Councilor Mark Mitchell said he spoke with artists and musicians from the Chicago area recently and developed ideas on how to “teach people to fish” so that they could fund their endeavors without taxpayer assistance in the future.

“If we can get on the stick here and do fundraisers and put skin in the game for people, that would be best for Marshalltown, so my vote will be no,” he said.

Conversely, Councilor Jeff Schneider called the MACC “a unique resource” that is currently in its rebirth phase, and he felt it would be foolish not to provide financial support. As the floor was opened up to public comment, MARSHALLTOWN Co. President/CEO Joe Carter noted that the change in state law placed the MACC in a difficult position, and he thought the one-year agreement would help provide stability during an uncertain time.

MACC Board President Karn Gregoire pointed to the fact that community members have already privately contributed over $3 million as evidence of the public support for the facility. With insurance and grants, over $7 million has been raised to revitalize the building after it was closed for about two years due to the derecho in August of 2020.

“I don’t know how much more this community could shout their support for the continuation of the MACC. These are your constituents,” Gregoire said.

Leigh Bauder, Mitchell’s partner, elaborated on his comments and recounted their conversations with the Chicago area artists and musicians as well as their successful private fundraising efforts, urging the council to avoid reinventing the wheel and work to foster unity in the community.

Another MACC board member, Cynthia Ragland, told the council the board had been listening to the concerns of citizens but added that they needed the money for survival as it currently stood.

“None of us want an empty grassy area on that important corner, and we want a home we can all be proud of for an amazing art collection we’re lucky to have,” she said. “There’s great things to come. We need your help now.”

Dr. David Clark, a fellow MACC board member, spoke in support of the funding request and viewed it as an amenity that makes Marshalltown vibrant and helps to attract residents and prospective businesses. Dave Grieve, a 1982 MHS graduate who recently returned to the community and purchased the Doo Dah’s building downtown, said he wouldn’t tell the council which way to vote but would be happy to assist in any fundraising efforts going forward.

Councilor Mike Ladehoff provided some history on the building and its longtime namesake, the late Fisher Controls President, CEO and Chairman of the Board Bill Fisher.

“We remember Bill, thousands of us. Right now, my family, my paycheck, what he did, what he started, it means something. This isn’t just a building,” he said. “Bill Fisher means more than a building to this community. You don’t get very many Bill Fishers in a town our size at all, at all, and what it meant to Marshalltown, how dedicated he was to Marshalltown. And he built this building and dedicated it to Marshalltown, and I think it’d be a crime if we don’t support that building.”

Ladehoff also cited a recent John Deere event held at the MACC as proof that it also serves as an economic development tool and indicated he would be voting in favor of the request. Hoop shared his own history working at Fisher Controls, along with his father and his two sons, but wondered why the name of the building was changed from the Fisher Community Center to the MACC.

In response, Ladehoff said the change was made with the family’s blessing and that Mr. Fisher is still prominently featured inside of the building as his famed art collection still bears the Fisher name.

“You can name it MACC, but in my head, it’s always gonna be the Fisher Community Center,” Ladehoff said.

Referencing his own involvement with the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation, Mayor Joel Greer recounted that the Fisher family encouraged the change, and he invited Gregoire back up to the podium to explain it further. She said Fisher’s intention was to provide the building to Marshalltown to help retain and recruit employees for local businesses.

“When I talked with the family and we talked about changing the name and why we would change the name, it was because it was about Marshalltown, and it was about recognizing and bringing these resources to Marshalltown,” she said. “If you’re talking about people outside of Marshalltown and you’re saying the Fisher Community Center, nobody relates that to Marshalltown. When you’re saying it’s the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center, it’s putting Marshalltown on the map. That’s driving our economic recognition, our marketing position and our economic development.”

Along with the family, she added, it has the support of Fisher alumni and the leaders of other businesses that sell Fisher products around the country, who donated over $500,000 to the restoration of the building. Greer then joked that many of the city’s residents who are 70 and older like himself still use old names like Marshalltown Trowel (now MARSHALLTOWN), Fisher Controls (now Emerson) and Fakespace (now Mechdyne).

“It’s part of change and growth, I guess,” he said.

Mitchell asked how many local artists have had their work on display at the MACC, and Board Member Sharon Greer said Lenihan students will have an exhibit in April. Otherwise, Kim Mills Hanken and Loren Chantland have both been featured.

When the roll was called, six of the seven councilmen quickly announced their votes, while Hoop hesitated, noting that it tugged at his heart but deciding he had to say no. After the meeting, an attempt to reach Gregoire for comment on what the denial means for the future operations of the MACC was not immediately successful.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Heard a Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) quarterly update from YSS of Marshall County Director David Hicks.

• Approved the third and final reading of an amendment to the city’s stormwater rate.

• Approved the first reading of an amendment to the Chapter 91 in the code of ordinances pertaining to fire prevention and protection violation penalties.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.