The Anchorage Assembly will receive a briefing Friday afternoon on the $50 million in repairs that may be needed for the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, a downtown cultural hub that has suffered from decades of deferred maintenance.
The 2:10 pm presentation, prepared by ACPA, Inc. — the nonprofit that has operated the center since its opening in 1988 –warns that the PAC is facing escalating infrastructure failure, decades of underinvestment, and operational constraints that threaten its core functions, safety, and long-term viability.
Despite hosting between 150,000 and 250,000 patrons annually, supporting eight resident companies, and serving as an economic engine for downtown Anchorage, the PAC’s facility has not seen consistent capital investment from its municipal owner.
According to ACPA’s report, only a handful of improvements have been publicly funded over the decades, including a roof replacement in 2005 and a recently approved $1.8 million allocation for fire safety and elevator upgrades. The funds for that have yet to be fully deployed due to engineering and procurement delays.
Most of the PAC’s systems date back to its original 1988 construction and have surpassed their life expectancy. ACPA’s recent facility assessment, conducted with support from Stantec and Theatre Projects, identified $22.9 million in near-term repair needs, many of which are tied to life safety.
Among the most urgent concerns:
- An aging and partially defunct fire panel system.
- Freight and passenger elevators in danger of failure due to water intrusion in the piston shaft.
- Obsolete air handling and ventilation systems.
- Failing lighting, public address, and building control systems.
- A compromised building envelope with visible cracking and joint failures.
- A generator that is no longer functional.
ACPA staff are currently mitigating several of these issues manually, such as pumping water from the elevator shaft every few months due to piston corrosion, a stopgap measure the Municipality has reportedly agreed to monitor for failure rather than proactively resolve.
The center’s operating agreement with the Municipality dates to 1988, when ACPA was allocated a $1.175 million annual management fee. That amount has not kept pace with inflation, the ACPA says in its handout. Had it been adjusted each year, today’s fee would be over $3.3 million. Instead, the facility receives $1.58 million, leaving ACPA to shoulder the difference.
Despite limited resources, ACPA has launched multiple initiatives to sustain the PAC, including the creation of CenterTix in 2005 and a partnership with national Broadway promoter Nederlander in 2023. The Broadway Alaska program has generated revenue, but was paused earlier this year due to mounting operational challenges and the need to realign resources.
Broadway Alaska’s temporary suspension through the 2025–2026 season is not a termination of the program, the briefing clarifies. Instead, the pause allowed ACPA to address building deficiencies, stabilize finances, and renegotiate a sustainable management structure with the Municipality.
ACPA’s message to the Assembly is: Without immediate investment and a revised operating agreement, the PAC cannot continue to provide low-cost access for nonprofit and resident arts groups, support tourism and economic growth, or guarantee the safety and comfort of audiences and performers.
A follow-up presentation of Phase 1 assessment findings is scheduled for Aug. 4.
The meeting will be broadcast at the YouTubelink below.
Prior to this meeting, the Anchorage Assembly also scheduled a work session for 11:50 am: “Worksession Draft AR for Better Public Meetings Project.”
The most important issue, not addressed here, is the lack of handicapped accessibility. There current plan is two 15 minute spaces around the corner from Humpies on F Street. A person in a wheelchair has a hard time in good weather getting across 6th Ave to an event. In the winter ice humps build up on either sides of each of three lanes making crossing the street almost impossible. In the summer the Municipality leases out F Street from 6th to 7th for events taking away what little access there is.
The Town Square Park is undergoing renovation planning. To me, it is criminal that Handicapped Accessibility for the PAC is not included. Both are Municipal assets.
Thank you Tom for speaking out on this particular situation. You are correct.
Hopefully this can be dealt with this time around.
The assembly and offices of the mayor need to look to grants to take care of his problem. Not taxes.
Yes look for federal government infrastructure monies. There already srewing us by increasing two port taxes that’s why nothing went down
I smell another sizeable bond proposal in the making. Snicker!
I question the financial management of the PAC. Seems like the revenue generated over the years should have gone to maintenance costs, instead of relying upon the taxpayers to subsidize the building. That’s how things work in the real world, so why don’t they work that way for the PAC?
That building is a poorly designed, poorly sited white elephant at this point.
The generator is probably just fine, if they got someone to fix it that actually knew what the hell they were doing. Too often, these backup systems are being yarded out of municipal and ASD building simply because the people that are working on them are completely ignorant on how to repair them. As to the spending of $50 million to repair a building that isn’t used that much is another discussion. Between the Denaina, Egan, Sullivan, Alaska Airlines Center and PAC, this city needs to get back to using the most universal buildings and stop throwing millions at all these different venues. For a city of 500,000, we need to start operating on a realistic budget instead of screwing the property owners every year for pie in the sky BS for a few of the population.
It’s cheaper to tear it down and make space for a homeless camp.
Go see your wealthy donors and patrons list for $$$. Money should come from people who use the facility, not always just make real property/homeowners pay.
Good grief, it sounds like it should be condemned! I remember when it was first built! Hard to believe there is that much deferred maintenance.
Why did they wait all these yrs to ask for help now we’re all gonna get screwed for one lump sum
$50 million dollars? I am sure we have more pressing matters that need funding than the opera house for low grade Anchorage entertainment.
Original cost estimate was $45 million to build. Cost overruns led to a final cost of $71 million. (According to SAH Archipedia)
Just get a hold of the Queen of Pork – Lisa Murkowski. A big fat federal appropriation would make the Senator’s core constituency very happy.
Convert it to a homeless facility. They can still have their events there and will enjoy larger audiences.
There isn’t a million in this State.
I think this thing needs to be sold.
$50.00 + Per capita, and very few of us ever go there.
Mayor Tony’s Taj Mahal is crumbling around us. Ironic. The PAC from wear at tear. Our community from taking a blind eye to crime, homelessness run amok and lack of will to improve the business climate in this city. Decades of liberal assemblies create decades of chaos and decay.
The city should focus on core services, such as fire, police, and parks, and let a private organization take care of the performing arts center. Sell the facility to an organization, corporation, or foundation that can handle the expenditures. Start a major fundraising campaign, leaning heavy on corporate giving and grant writing if you don’t want to sell. Get some marketing interns and new directors to add input and energy.
Not feeling comfortable coming downtown coupled with limited parking is a huge problem. Just went to the theater at Mat Su College, plenty of parking and non threatening atmosphere. The recent shooting at the Gaslight lounge is not a plus. Downtown just feels dead whereas South Anchorage feels like the area to have dinner.
If this was a Kriner’s Diner or a church, Peoples’ Code Enforcers would’ve shut it down already.
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But they didn’t. So, either the problems are no big deal, or they are a big deal but Peoples’ Code Enforcers were ordered to leave it alone.
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Who wants to risk life and limb to find out? Bums don’t get you, falling down public buildings will …that’s just the state of things downtown?
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Mark our words, $50M is where it starts. Add the many possible forms of construction fraud, throw in lack of oversight, due diligence, and plain old alertness, bill should top $200M in no time. Put a big rush on it, it’ll be more.
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Nothing wrong with that a ten or twelve percent sales tax won’t fix.