The $160 million on the ballot will partially fund the $300 million-$340 million project. During an April 1 City Council meeting, officials signed a letter of intent for an operator.
“We are looking forward to great community dialogue here,” Mayor Jeff Cheney said in February.
The details
The new center will potentially bring Broadway shows to Frisco, officials said. It will also create a space for Prosper ISD students to use.
The first proposition asks voters to authorize the Economic Development Corporation to use proceeds of its sales and use tax, not property taxes, for a city-owned performing arts facility. The second proposition asks voters to authorize the city to issue up to $160 million in bonds to go toward the art center.
The propositions, if approved, would not increase the city’s property tax rate, officials said.
Neither of the propositions will officially approve the Frisco Center for the Arts, just one of the funding sources for it. A council vote on the project itself is expected to come after the May 3 election.
Broadway is “right at our doorstep,” Cheney said during a February council meeting when both propositions were added to the May ballot.
The vision for the Frisco Center for the Arts includes:
- A 2,800-seat performance hall, capable of accommodating Broadway and large touring and community productions
- A 300- to 400-seat community hall to be used primarily by PISD while also providing access to community organizations and events
- Support spaces, rehearsal areas and visual arts creative spaces
Funding the project
The city of Frisco is not the only entity planning to fund the project. Even if the two propositions pass in May, it will only confirm the first $160 million out of an expected final cost of $300 million-$340 million.
Prosper ISD signed a letter of intent in October pledging $100 million from its $125 million arts facility bond proposition that voters passed in 2023. Letters of intent are not legally binding.
“It’s an exciting possibility,” Deputy Superintendent Greg Bradley said during the October board meeting. “This is a potential awesome opportunity for our kids ... there’s no way that we could construct something like this on our own.”
The proposed location for the Frisco Center for the Arts is within the roughly 7 miles of PISD land inside Frisco’s city limits. Consultants with Theatre Projects Inc. have also said the district’s students will have first right of refusal for the facility’s community hall.
Most of the funding sources for the project have yet to be secured. Project consultants during a late January Frisco City Council work session meeting said the rest of the funding would need to come from both private and corporate donations.
The city does not plan to operate the facility’s day-to-day operations.
Instead, Frisco City Council approved a letter of intent in a 5-1 vote for an operator for the proposed performing arts center project during an April 1 City Council meeting.
The letter of intent is for Frisco Live to oversee the center. Frisco Live is a Texas not-for-profit corporation, which is owned by The John Gore Organization. It will combine Broadway Dallas and Broadway Across America.
Sorting out the details
The John Gore Organization is a presenter, distributor and marketer of Broadway theater worldwide, according to its website.
City Council member Brian Livingston voted against approving the letter of intent. Livingston expressed concerns about the financial performance of the center and the city needing to invest more capital into the project down the line.
The large hall will be used for community events and Broadway shows while the community hall will be primarily used by PISD students.
The operator will run both the large hall and the community hall.
The plans account for dark days, which is when the center is not in use, and open for growth days. Open for growth will be used for additional programming that has not yet been identified.
Zooming out
The Frisco Center for the Arts will not be the only performance venue in the city. Frisco ISD broke ground in 2024 on its $54.9 million performing arts center, which voters approved as part of a $691 million bond package in 2018.
FISD and the city formerly had a partnership to open a joint performing arts center in partnership with Hall Park using a $10 million bond, which voters approved in 2015. FISD’s performing arts center is set to open in 2026.
Looking ahead
Smart Frisco, a group in favor of bringing a performing arts center to Frisco, formed shortly after the two May propositions were placed on the ballot.
Smart Frisco member Bill Woodard said if the ballot items pass, it would allow the city to “get to work” on the next steps in what will be a years-long process to build the facility.
“There’s a lot of little milestones along the way, but this vote allows us to keep progressing down that path,” Woodard said.
Woodard is currently serving his last term on City Council—the race for his Place 4 seat will be featured in the May 3 election. Woodard said his thoughts on the project were as a Frisco resident and taxpayer, not as a council member or city spokesperson.
If the propositions fail, Woodard said, the project will likely stop where it is.
