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NEILLSVILLE LEGION ASKS FOR CITY'S HELP
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 -- 9:08 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
The Neillsville American Legion will lose their new building unless they get help.
Three representatives from the Legion met with Neillsville’s Economic Development Commission Tuesday night and laid out the grim details.
The facility opened in 2007. Construction costs sky-rocketed to $1.3-million, well above initial estimates.
Wayne Short, who’s with the Legion now, but wasn’t involved when the facility was constructed, told the Commission the organization has $580,000 in bank debt and can’t make their monthly payments.
"In 2007 and 2008, those were good years, they told me they probably exceeded expectations for sales. In those two years they were barely able to make the principle and interest payment," Short reported. "Since then, the economy has slowed down."
In fact, the Legion has “tapped” their members for more donations, tried to increase the number of special events and cut costs, but Short said it’s obvious they won’t be able to “earn their way” out their hole.
"Without an investment by a partner, or a long-term interest-only kind of program, it's just not going to work. I'm sure by the end of the year, we're going to be without a bank and won't be able to continue operations," he said.
One option would be for the city to get involved, possibly by purchasing the loan from the bank and receiving interest-only payments from the Legion. If the city doesn’t help, the Legion may try to start a member-investor group to buy the facility. If those options fail, they might lose the building.
The Commission took no action. Another meeting was set for December 1st.
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