RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - City officials in Roanoke Rapids defended a plan to pay entertainer Randy Parton $1.5 million a year plus housing and vehicle amenities to manage a 1,500-seat theater.
Much is riding on the success of the theater, for which the city borrowed $21.5 million to build in hopes it would help transform an area hit hard by unemployment and poverty.
The Randy Parton Theater, set to open in July, will anchor a planned retail and entertainment complex called Carolina Crossroads, located off of Interstate 95 in northeastern North Carolina's Halifax County. Parton, brother of country singer Dolly Parton, entered an economic development agreement with the city and developers June 30, 2005, to bring nationally recognized artists to the theater.
In return, the city agreed to provide Parton with a fully furnished home and car for three years. When the theater opens, Parton will also receive an 'artist fee.' Although Parton's pay will depend partially on the theater's revenues, the city established a $3 million reserve fund that can help pay the fee if the theater initially doesn't make enough money.
Rick Benton, the city's economic development director, said private donations have provided the house and car, not taxpayer money. The city expects that the theater eventually will generate enough revenue to pay for itself. And tourism and jobs created by the entertainment complex will benefit the city for years to come, Benton said.
'We needed the shot in the arm, and that's why we were so aggressive at going after this project,' he said, adding that the city competed with localities in North Carolina. 'Our other option was to sit around and watch our economy deteriorate.'
But some have questioned whether governments should offer such deals to private businesses for the sake of economic development, especially when it's unclear whether the projects will succeed.
Officials in Caldwell County came under fire earlier this year after announcing that state and local incentives for Google Inc.'s $600 million data center could add up to more than $260 million over three decades. And an economic incentives package for Dell Inc. is caught in a court fight after taxpayers argued that the agreement broke the law.
The Parton Theater deal came to light this week after the Carolina Journal, a publication of the conservative John Locke Foundation, published a story about it.
'Local governments simply have no leverage in negotiating these deals. They're desperate and they're taken advantage of by the other side,' said Bob Orr, executive director of the conservative North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law. Orr is representing taxpayers in the Dell case.
'It looks like Mr. Parton got a very sweet deal out of this,' he said.
It isn't clear what shows Parton's company, Moonlight Bandit Productions, LLC, has planned for the theater. According to the agreement with the city, Parton's company has control over advertising and marketing for the theater. Neither Parton nor his business manager, Mike Scott, immediately returned calls seeking comment Thursday.
Parton had worked with Dollywood, his sister's theme park near Gatlinburg, Tenn. Officials hope the Carolina Crossroads complex will rival music hubs such as Gatlinburg and Branson, Mo.
Roanoke Rapids Mayor Drewery Beale said he has no doubts about the agreement and is confident the theater will be successful.
'We have no bad feelings about the deal we've made with Randy Parton,' Beale said. 'I've been excited from the first day and I'm still excited.'
Halifax County is one of the poorest in the state and unemployment rates have reached more than 12 percent in recent years following the closure of textile mills. Without a skilled work force, tourism is perhaps the best answer for an economic turnaround, Benton said.
The city has also partnered with Carolina Crossroads, the local tourism industry and businesses to carry out the project. Already, outdoor concerts attracted some 65,000 people to the area last year.
'Everyone is in support of a project like this that's trying to let us climb out of the bottom of the barrel,' he said.
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