{"id":315,"date":"2025-02-03T16:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T17:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spanishliteratureintranslation.com\/?p=315"},"modified":"2025-03-11T18:29:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T18:29:43","slug":"blinded-by-showbiz-the-stanley-hotel-and-the-sundance-film-festival-shouldnt-get-millions-in-state-investments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/spanishliteratureintranslation.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/03\/blinded-by-showbiz-the-stanley-hotel-and-the-sundance-film-festival-shouldnt-get-millions-in-state-investments\/","title":{"rendered":"Blinded by Showbiz: The Stanley Hotel and the Sundance Film Festival shouldn\u2019t get millions in state investments"},"content":{"rendered":"

We can follow the misguided path that has led state officials to purchase the Stanley Hotel for a cool $475 million plus interest<\/a>, and we want to put up some serious roadblocks to make sure future public officials don\u2019t follow.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s government should not be in the hotel and hospitality business.<\/p>\n

Just like how our government shouldn\u2019t be in the business of underwriting film festivals with millions of dollars in taxpayer money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But here we are, in need of a drastic course correction.<\/p>\n

The Stanley Hotel is uniquely Coloradan. Separate plans are underway to use state-tax dollars to build a Stanley Film Center to honor horror films like The Shining, which made the Estes Park Hotel far more than a historic lodging option for those headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.<\/p>\n

The Sundance Film Festival will bring millions of dollars in revenue to the Boulder area as 60,000 affluent tourists descend on the town for one of the world\u2019s pre-eminent independent film screenings.<\/p>\n

And yet, we can confidently say that these two deals \u2013 purchasing The Stanley and giving tax credits to Sundance \u2013 stretch the state\u2019s mission of economic development and historic preservation too far.<\/p>\n

We can see the writing on the wall with The Stanley Hotel. Originally the deal was slightly different but still concerning.<\/p>\n

Arizona\u2019s Community Finance Corporation<\/a> was to act as a middleman \u2013 a pass-through if you will — that would oversee the purchase and updating of the facility. According to the nonprofit\u2019s website it exists solely to facilitate these types of government projects: \u201cThe governmental entity typically takes possession of the completed facility when construction is complete and begins paying base rent equivalent to the debt service. In most cases, the project financing is paid back over time through lease payments and ownership of the project transfers to the governmental entity for a nominal cost when the debt is retired.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the middleman was cut out of the deal \u2013 perhaps for the better — and now Colorado will purchase the hotel through its own subsidiary. Our eyebrows are raised.<\/p>\n

The executive director of the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority was optimistic that not only could they pay off the debt but that there would be a share of profits remaining after the fact to help fund CEFCA\u2019s main mission of helping other Colorado cultural and educational facilities with needed bonds and loans.<\/p>\n

We see a vast difference between CECFA taking on the risk of issuing bonds to private schools and charter schools to build or upgrade their campuses, and taking on the risk of operating a hospitality business through a subsidiary. And where does this slippery slope end. Will the authority now rescue the Brown Palace in downtown Denver from its financial turmoil? And what if the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs suffers a devastating loss of business due to some unforeseen event?<\/p>\n