Consultant: Discover Lansdale Should Be Fundraising Arm for 311 W. Main

Laura Burnham, the new consultant for 311 W. Main St., is ready to tackle many roles toward one main goal: make the historic Masonic Temple property a cultural destination for the Lansdale community and beyond.

Burnham also has another goal on her checklist: make nonprofit Discover Lansdale both the fundraising arm for and managing head of 311 W. Main St.

"My role, in particular, with Lansdale, is to facilitate the desire that you all have made a commitment to: to have a viable and vibrant arts center in the center of town, and a place that can also drive economic development and enliven the downtown," Burnham told members of the joint session of the Economic Development Committee and Communication Commission Monday night. "That's one of the goals I've been given."

Burnham will also be working on a program plan for the content of what will be going on in the building, she said. She will also be developing a financial plan that will support the activities in the building, and working with the architect Spiezle Architects to make sure the design supports what the community wants to have happen in the building.

"I'll also lay the groundwork for the organization that will sustain what goes on in that building for many years to come," Burnham said.

After meeting with the 311 W. Main St. Steering Committee last week, Burnham will now meet with borough staff and the Discover Lansdale board.

"I will meet with the Discover Lansdale board, who we are hoping will end up being the nonprofit umbrella, under which 311 can be fundraising under," she said. "So, we don’t have to build new nonprofit; we already have one."

Burnham said the 311 W. Main St. situation is very similar to the Abington Arts Center's backstory.

Burnham, who has worked in community arts for 25 years, has spent 17 years as director of the Abington Arts Center. 

"During that time, we took an organization from being a very small organization to a $1 million annual budget," she said.

"We had six phases of construction during that period, where we were transforming a historic building and property owned by the township to be a public place for everyone in community and beyond, and be a cultural destination," she said.

Burnham said 311 W. Main St. is a project that she has a lot of experience in and loves very much.

"You have a fabulous building here, and I look forward to moving forward," she said.

As part of the multidimensional project, Burnham will be keeping the community engaged with the progress of the site "so you feel like it's your arts center when all is said and done," she said.

Where the AMS Planning & Research Study ended, Burnham's roles begin.

She plans on broadening the scope of the AMS report and "digging deeper into its details." 

"Definitely, we want to be doing something at 311 that will complement other activity going on," she said. "I acknowledge your prior work. The reason you're in the buzz is because of the great work you've done in the past."

Burnham has also been becoming an expert of sorts on the new Lansdale branding initiative and narrative. She was given new branding materials and guidelines last week and has "loved it."

"It's really very much compatible to what we are trying to do here, as far as arts are concerned," she said. 

She said the timing is great for the 311 W. Main St. project, referencing the branding initiative ongoing implementation.

"You all know who you are, you already said where you're going to go, and you already know what people say about you, and that makes developing an arts program in that context very easy," she said.

The Madison Lot Redevelopment, she said, is also great timing with the 311 W. Main project.

"It's an opportunity to reintroduce people to the downtown and introduce people to the downtown," Burnham said. "I think the realities of 311 West Main can be seen as the place for the community to gather. That’s the number one priority when I read what people want, in the survey materials (of the AMS study): they want a place to enjoy the arts together."

Burnham said the borough has already put a lot of fantastic art pieces in place, such as the Festival of the Arts and First Friday.

"When I saw that T-shirt you did with 'Milan. Paris. Tokyo. Lansdale.', I was like, 'They like to think big.' That's great," she said.  

Economic Development Committee Chairwoman Mary Fuller said the borough is hoping to bring in a lot of other people to visit Lansdale and see what it has to offer to them.

Burnham said the main way to gather people from the outside is to have people on the inside enjoy being at 311 W. Main St.

"It grows organically from the inside, out," she said. "If you get good buzz from the community, you are sure to be a destination from people from beyond."

Lansdale Borough and the major users of 311 W. Main are a "pretty good pool of people," she said. 

"If the supoort comes from them, you can grow beyond that," she said.

Burnham will update the joint committees next month.