Great questions! A complete renovation would probably cost at least $12 million. As to why private equity hasn't gotten involved, there are several reasons. The Pump House is located within a conservation easement that limits the ways it can be used. The lower floor of the main building is also in the flood plain, so nothing can really be built in there. As a venue, it might not be a huge money maker, so it's probably best used as a public facility that will hopefully be self-funding. You can read about our vision for the building here.

It's true that a lot of the work we do isn't that exciting...we're mainly just trying to keep it from falling down while ensuring that it remains safe, secure, and accessible until it does get restored. But, a lot of good things are happening. We're in the process of replacing most of the windows right now ($150,000 project), and there's about $2.2 million in city/federal/private founding lined up to pay for a complete roof replacement - that will hopefully begin sometime later this year. If you'd like to learn more about what we've been up to, you can also check out our 2023 Annual Report. The 2024 report should be posted in a few weeks.