Major Fundraiser Campaign Kickoff to Start Mid-July
By Marita Krivda Poxon
Rumors had been circulating for many months about the financial difficulties that the Irish Center continued to have ever since the City of Philadelphia raised the Irish Center’s property taxes in 2013.
But while many suspected that the financial situation had gotten critical, few knew for sure how bad the financial situation really is until an email went out from Kathy McGee Burns on May 1st, 2014.
McGee Burns requested that interested stakeholders and other supporters of the Irish Center attend a meeting to put together a summer emergency plan to raise funds “to pay our taxes and keep our doors open.” Those in attendance were to form an Ad Hoc Committee to save the Irish center. Her brief email sounded an alarm bell when she said:
I know we’re all busy or wanting to chill out over the summer but wouldn’t it be awful if there was no place to come back to?
On May 6th, the center’s front dining room was packed with everyone anxious to know whether the Irish Center would really close its doors this summer. The center has welcomed thousands since 1958 when two tavern keepers, Mickey Cavanaugh and Michael Scullion, acquired the rambling building in West Mt. Airy as the site for the new Commodore Barry Club.
Leading the discussion were members of the center’s board of directors including Vince Gallagher (president), Kathy McGee Burns, Barney Boyce, Sean McMenamin, Bill Donahue, Ed and Mary Weideman, Mary Curren, Kevin Walker, Kerri Meenigh, Frank Hollingsworth and Lisa Maloney, attorney to the board.
Present were representatives of the county societies, the Philadelphia Ceili Group, friends of the Irish Center and young people whose parents practically raised them at the center. All sat in a state of shock as the current dire financial reality emerged during the two-hour meeting.
City Tax Reassessment
Sean McMenamin explained the devastating effect on the center’s fiscal stability that recent tax bills have had. This tax hike came about as a result of citywide property reassessments by the Philadelphia’s BRT (Board of Revision of Taxes) which really hit the Irish Center hard.
McMenamin said that the board hired a certified assessor who specialized in club buildings. With help from this assessor, an appeal was made which lowered the BRT’s initial inflated assessment. Along with the property tax hike, the center also has had an increase in the Business Use and Occupancy Tax. The city defines this tax as a “tax on the business, trade or other commercial use and occupancy of real estate located in Philadelphia.”
Initially, the real estate tax bill when combined with the Use and Occupancy Tax bill was to cost $60,000. However, with a favorable reassessment, the total is now $22, 000. But this is still three times more than the $7,000 the center recently paid.
McMenamin spoke of the perfect storm of circumstances that hit the center this winter, one of the worst winters in memory. This winter forced the center to use its credit line to make ends meet.
Not only did the property tax bill soar (along with the Business Use and Occupancy Tax bill) but also the heating bill went through the roof with oil heating costing $11,000 and gas heating in the ballroom costing $1,800.
Because of the severe ice and snow storms, Tom Walsh, the center’s manager, had to cancel many events that should have brought substantial rental and bar income.
Additionally, new city codes have required that expensive upgrades be made in the kitchen, which include stainless steel exhaust hoods and fixtures. The center has two years to complete these repairs and has already paid out $25,000 to comply with these codes to keep the kitchen open for Shackamaxon Catering.
Few knew that the center had taken out a $160,000 mortgage from Bryn Mawr Trust 11 years ago to pay off past due Business Use and Occupancy taxes and a $22,000 gas bill that resulted from many years of incorrect readings from a faulty meter. The mortgage also provided money to fund a 10-year capital improvement plan. The improvements made have included: air-conditioning for the ballroom, new air-conditioning units throughout the center, upgraded electrical wiring, a partial new roof and the installation of an elevator to make the center handicapped accessible. A fund-raiser held in 2010 raised $20,000, which helped to pay for the elevator.
Despite the current gross income of between $220,000 and $240,000 in the past few years from rentals, the bar, balls, concerts, and monthly payments from Shackamaxon Catering (their check pays the monthly mortgage), the center has had on average $15,000 deficits in the past few years. The current year 2013-2014 has been so bad that the center has already borrowed $27,000 on its credit line. McMenamin emphasized: “The Irish Center would not survive into the future with such continued, heavy financial obligations.”
Save the Irish Center Committee
Kathy McGee Burns organized an Ad Hoc Committee to Save the Irish Center. In subsequent meetings, the committee has begun work on an ambitious two-year plan to raise the needed funds to keep the doors open.
Meanwhile the current Irish Center board will work on a long-range plan to make the center a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) non-profit to promote Irish Arts and Culture in Philadelphia. This tax-exempt structure will allow the center to apply for grants from foundations and receive large tax-exempt donations from individuals. Sean McMenamin thought that a target dollar amount for the two-year fundraiser should be $100.000.
Various members of the Ad Hoc Committee agreed to take on specific roles in the summer kick-off fundraising campaign. Committee members include: Karen Boyce McCollum, Lori Murphy, Denise Foley, Jeff Meade, Tom Keenan, Marita Krivda Poxon, Jane Duffin, Lisa Maloney, Kathy McGee Burns, Frank Hollingsworth, Vince Gallagher, Barney Boyce, Tom Walsh, and Sean McMenamin.
It was outlined that the Save the Irish Center Fundraiser Campaign will kick off mid-July, 2014. Letters will be mailed out to solicit donations from the entire Irish Center community. In the letter, all would be invited on September 28th, 2014 to an all-day, grand finale celebration, “The Gathering.” Board member, Frank Hollingsworth, who initiated this event two years ago, would serve as chair of the event which would be expanded.
The first fund-raiser of the summer will be sponsored by the Mayo Association on July 19th, 2014 at Maloney’s Pub, 2626 East County Line Road, Ardmore, PA.
By the day of the event, most of the funds are hoped to already have been pledged or received through an innovative plan in the works. The plan will include extensive use of social media including Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, etc. as well as the more traditional communication and marketing tools. Plans outlined include:
- On Facebook – the “Commodore Barry Irish Center Fund Raising Campaign” site – has been setup and it has had nearly 1,000 hits already. It welcomes Irish Center photographs from anyone. Many amazing and charming photos have been posted. The Facebook page asks that visitors ‘like’ what they see and tell their own favorite Irish Center stories. The address for this new Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/commodorebarryirishcenterfundraising
- On Flickr the site is The Irish Center Commodore Barry Club. It can be viewed at: www.flickr.com/photos/124714062@N03/
- A revamped Irish Center website (www.irishcenter.com) is in the works now with links to online donations pledged through PayPal and a new site GoFundMe (recently successfully used by the Philadelphia Ceili Group). More details will be forthcoming on how to donate. This information will be posted on the Irish Center’s webpage (as well as the Facebook page).
- Weekly radio appeals on the Vince Gallagher’s Sunday Irish Hour and Marianne MacDonald’s Come West Along the Road broadcast.
- Print and web articles in the Irish Edition (www.irishediton.com) and frequent postings of human interest stories and heartwarming photographs on the Irish Philadelphia website (www.irishphiladelphia.com)
Meanwhile, Sean McMenamin and Billy Brennan have been gathering boxes of historic documents and Irish Center minutes from papers located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and others at the home of Ed Quigg. All these papers have been digitized and are being used to provide the necessary documentation so that the Irish Center can become a recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profit. The Brehon Law Society, attorney Joe Kelly and Ballard Spahr law firm have all agreed to do this work pro bono.
CORPORATE STRUCTURE TO BE DISSOLVED
The current corporate structure which consists of two entities — Commodore John Barry Incorporated (owns the building) and the Commodore John Barry Society (holds the liquor license) — would have to be dissolved. Once this is done, a new organization will emerge which will be a non-profit entity fully capable of receiving foundation grants as well as tax-deductible donations from individuals and corporations.
For Sean McMenamin this is: The light at the end of the tunnel! But until we get there we need to man the lifeboats so we all arrive safely to this other society, the Philadelphia Irish Arts and Cultural Center.