ArtsAltoona has struggled with a variety of issues in recent months, from corroded water lines and a clogged sewer system to tens of thousands of dollars in overdue gas bills. Now, a local organization is hoping for a change.

“We’ve been in the news lately, but not in such good news,” Vice President Kathrine Muller said at a recent Operation Our Town grant ceremony. “First we had too much water, then too little water, then way too much water, too little insurance, all sorts of things.”

Founded in 2015, ArtsAltoona aims to create a vibrant and cultural community in the greater Altoona area by offering arts classes, music lessons, event spaces, festivals and other educational programs for people of all ages. The organization operates largely on donations, keeping prices low to make programs accessible to everyone.

Its problems began when ArtsAltoona received about $40,000 in delinquent bills from People’s Natural Gas because of a problem with its billing system, said CEO Donna Gority. They were given three years to pay off the debt.

“The official cut-off notice amount was close to $40,000,” Gority said. “We’ve gotten it down to close to $36,000, which is basically adding $1,000 to your bill each month.”

ArtsAltoona is a business, so it doesn’t qualify for the average monthly billing, a tool nonprofits and residents can use to sort through their energy bills by averaging current and past usage charges. That will result in “bills being extraordinarily high in the winter when event revenues are down,” Gority said.

The building that ArtsAltoona is located in used to be a church, and Gority said the notices they were sent listed the old name of the church, which was not the mailing address.

“We simply haven’t received a bill since January 2020,” Gority said. “We received service that we didn’t pay for, we can’t deny that. If we somehow missed it, we clearly didn’t notice that we weren’t paying our gas bill.”

ArtsAltoona then received a notice from the water authority that their location was experiencing excessive water usage, Gority said. After consulting with a plumber, it was discovered that the water lines to their water heater had corroded, causing a leak and excess water in the Blank Canvas room.

“We asked a plumber to cover the valve to stop the water flow, but that has meant we haven’t had hot water in the building for months,” Gority said.

Blank Canvas had a certified kitchen, which meant that if a food vendor wanted to use it for food preparation, ArtsAltoona would not be able to accommodate requests to rent a commercial kitchen, resulting in a loss of revenue.

“We also can’t rent out the kitchen to anyone who wants to use it as part of our Blank Canvas event space rental,” Gority said. “We don’t have any reserves to cover the very high estimated plumbing bill to fix it. We also haven’t found any grants or sponsors to cover that cost yet.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Gority said tree roots had grown into storm drains, which caused ArtsAltoona’s sewers to become clogged after heavy rains, resulting in “significant standing flooding at Blank Canvas.”

“ServPro has been here for weeks, drying, venting and tearing things out,” Gority said. “We’re expecting a pretty high bill, even though they said they’re looking at ways to help us lower it. Now we have to replace the flooring, kitchen cabinets, storage shelves, walls that had to be cut through by the flood and arts and crafts supplies that were destroyed.”

Gority said the cost to replace everything was estimated at more than $60,000, and insurance would cover about $30,000.

Muller said that as part of the fundraising effort, several local musicians will hold a benefit concert on Oct. 10.

“So listen up, because we would love for you all to participate,” Muller said.

Gority added that they are also thinking about organizing cash-winning events, 200 Clubs and reverse draws in the spring.

“But that doesn’t help in the short term; it takes time to plan,” Gority said. “We’ve had some generous donations from people who saw we were struggling, and we always need sponsors.”

Gority said ArtsAltoona has other spaces available for rent, such as a conference room, sanctuary and grotto. There will also be several events, including Mad Hatter Comedy on Sept. 12, The Hallelujah Girls from Sept. 19 to 21 and ArtsAltoona Christkindl Market on Nov. 23.

To donate, visit artsaltoona.org or facebook.com/artsaltoona. For more information, email [email protected].

Mirror reporter Rachel Foor can be reached at 814-946-7458.

How to help

To donate, visit artsaltoona.org or facebook.com/artsaltoona. For more information, email [email protected].

Upcoming Events

— Mad Hatter Comedy, September 12

— The Hallelujah Girls, September 19-21

— Christkindl Market at ArtsAltoona, November 23.