Skip to main contentSomeday, Portland Center Stage will adorn the Armory with splashy posters advertising upcoming productions. But in the short term, the historic Pearl District structure is more likely to be papered with contractors' liens.
The hardhats who have been working on the theater company's future home since winter say they have not been paid--even though Center Stage and the Portland Development Commission announced financing was in place for the $28 million deal in April.
The claims come a week after WW reported that Center Stage is behind on its rent to its current landlord, the publicly owned Portland Center for the Performing Arts.
Converting the historic Armory into a theater involves financial wizardry seldom seen in Portland, including the use of $8 million in federal tax credits earmarked for low-income neighborhoods, projections of vastly increased ticket sales and a $10 million moral promise from City Hall to rescue the project should it not meet fundraising targets (see "The Great White Hoax," WW, Jan. 7, 2004).
But in its early stages the project is encountering cash-flow problems. Drew Park, president of Columbia Wire and Iron, which built the structural portion of the historic building's roof earlier this year, says his company is owed more than $100,000 for invoices going back to March.
Park says other subcontractors who did roofing and waterproofing have also not been paid. He adds that the project's general contractor, Hoffman Construction, has not paid him because Hoffman in turn has not been paid by the PDC. Hoffman did not return WW's call.
PDC spokeswoman Martha Richmond confirms that payments are in arrears but says the nonpayment is simply a paperwork issue. "[Invoices] have been submitted," Richmond says. "There's nothing unusual here. They will all be paid."
But Park says his suppliers are clamoring for money due to them since April and may soon place liens on the Armory.
"They're financing the project on small businesses like mine," Park says. "A hundred thousand dollars is a whole heck of a lot of money for us, especially when there's not much work around."
WWeek 2015