Costs Increase For Eau Claire Performing Arts Center

A performing arts center under construction in Eau Claire will cost $15 million more than it’s original price tag.

While organizers knew about the costs, they were not made public until this month, two years after construction began on what is now known as the Pablo Center at the Confluence in downtown Eau Claire.

On Thursday, a detailed budget was released that showed the project needed an additional $15 million for things like audio-visual equipment and furnishings.

Recently hired Pablo Center Executive Director Jason Jon Anderson said the previous fundraising focus had been on securing the $45 million needed for construction of the facility, which will host two theaters along with classrooms for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and community use.

Anderson said the additional costs for outfitting the building were known by the center’s two governing boards but weren’t made public.

“And those had just never been shared as part of the project because they were only talking about the physical construction of the building,” he said, “And part of what I wanted to do, as executive director, was ensure that a line item budget was released to everyone.”

Anderson is optimistic that grants will cover $8 million of the newly released costs. He said fundraisers hope to raise an additional $4.5 million by the end of May.

“We really have about six weeks in which we hope to see some positive responses from grants as well as additional fundraising to know what our spend plan is between now and when we open the building,” Anderson said.

If fundraising falls short, Anderson said the plan is to open the building and then add fixtures as money becomes available. But he said installing wiring for certain audio-visual equipment after walls are built will drive up costs even more.