Signs of economic recovery are hard to come by these days.
A prominent job site just off Business 40 that looks capable of keeping scores of workers busy has sat idle for months.
Yet just a few blocks ways, in the 200 block of North Marshall Street, a steady stream of construction workers employed by about 30 subcontractors have been hard at work since January. On any given day, between 50 and 100 show up shortly after first light and get cracking on an $11 million renovation and expansion of the Downtown Center for the Arts being undertaken by the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
"Most of us here know we're lucky to have jobs," said Alex McGrath, an employee of the Frank L. Blum Construction Co., the project's general contractor. "I think it's great (the Arts Council) is doing this project. I wish there were more like it.
"It's good for us and it'll be good for the city, too."
Steady work
Demolition for the Downtown Center for the Arts started right around the beginning of the year. Groundbreaking for construction followed a few weeks later, even though the Arts Council was still $5 million short of its $26 million fundraising goal -- money it needs to build and operate the complex.
"In the nonprofit community, 80 percent is seen as the magic number," said Richard Emmett, the chief operating officer for the Arts Council. "Once you get to that point, you feel confident you can raise the rest. We have $21.4 million in private funds, so why not get it started? It'll benefit the community -- the guys you see working there every day -- and us."
By comparison, arts groups in other parts of the country are retreating and retrenching.
A three-page article in Time magazine earlier this month spelled out the hits the arts have been taking. Ticket sales and private giving are down, as are public contributions.
Art museums in cities such as Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles and Philadelphia have had major budget cuts. Opera companies in Connecticut and Baltimore closed after more than 50 years of performances. The budget proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan contains exactly zero money to support the arts.
It can be argued that in a death-spiral economy such as the one they have in Michigan, the arts should be among the first to face belt-tightening from public sources, but zero?
However you feel about arts financing, you can't argue with the economic benefits of an $11 million project.
"Everybody appreciates steady work," said Randy Brooks, a foreman at the arts center site. "Sure guys grumble about the heat but I guarantee they'd rather be here working than at home not working."
Hard to turn down
Even though they're two wildly different animals, it's hard to avoid comparing the Downtown Center for the Arts with the baseball stadium a few blocks away.
The problems besetting the ballpark -- and the odious, no-choice bailout plan approved by city officials -- have been well-documented. Work on the arts center, on the other hand, started on time and has continued uninterrupted.
By the time construction wraps up sometime next summer, a few hundred people will have earned paychecks from the project.
Emmett and other Arts Council leaders know that they still have work to do -- and money to raise -- in order to open to the public by 2010. They remain hopeful that despite the sputtering economy, the city will find a way to contribute to their project and other downtown projects.
The Arts Council nailed down private money before starting anything, scaled back its original plans when the economy tanked and avoided drama. No one's ever used the word "foreclosure" in relation to the project, either.
If the city can come up with $27 million for a ballpark -- a $12 million contribution up front, plus another $15 million or so in loans and other assistance -- elected officials are going to have a hard time saying "no" to a much smaller request for a project that, so far, has lived up to its billing.
■ Scott Sexton can be reached at 727-7481 or at ssexton@wsjournal.com.
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