Fargo School Board Gives Deadline For Agreement With Bluestem

The Fargo School Board has put an August 1st deadline on the amount of time it has to reach an agreement with the Bluestem Center for the Arts board or Bluestem will be cut out of the equation completely.

 

 

 

 

The Fargo School Board has put an August 1st deadline on the amount of time it has to reach an agreement with the Bluestem Center for the Arts board or Bluestem will be cut out of the equation completely.

Bluestem Board Chair Dave Olig said they want to do everything they can to keep the facility, but said there is no way they can come up with the $2.8 million debt that resulted from unexpected construction costs.

"Although it’s not impossible, it is extremely improbable and even more difficult for us to, in fact, move forward to do debt reduction fundraising," said Olig. "I can’t find anybody who will tell me this is a good idea."

Although school board members did not accept or reject the proposal at the meeting, many say they want to continue trying to reach an agreement.

"We’re really not really in a position to magically say the loan goes away," said School board president Jim Johnson. "This is a loan of tax payer funds to an entity."

If the groups cannot reach a compromise before August 1st, the school board will be responsible for paying back the money because it co-signed the loan.

(KFGO file photo)

 

Bonnie Amistadi

   

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