HMAC
Employees and patrons of a Harrisburg music venue on Tuesday asked for City Council’s help to keep its doors open.
Harrisburg Midtown Art Center (HMAC) earlier today announced that it would close, saying that it cannot get essential operating licenses after failing to pay entertainment taxes.
During council’s work session, over a dozen residents indicated that they were there in solidarity with HMAC and spoke on behalf of the venue during public comment.
“HMAC has approached the mayor and the city solicitor with a concrete plan to pay the taxes owed and despite HMAC’s attorney reaching out, neither the mayor nor the city solicitor have responded, I believe for two weeks,” said resident Julia Tilley. “The only comment that was made that was shared with me was that the administration really doesn’t care if HMAC closes. Now I really can’t believe that anybody would’ve said that, but if they did, if it is true, I think it is a pretty terrible position for a city that is hemorrhaging restaurants and other businesses.”
According to John Traynor, one of the concert venue’s co-founders, HMAC has been closed for two weeks, not being allowed to operate without essential licenses, like health and mercantile licenses.
City Solicitor Neil Grover told TheBurg that HMAC owed a “substantial” amount of unpaid entertainment taxes and said that this is an “issue of their making.”
Traynor shared the same sentiments as Tilley, that HMAC has attempted to work out the issue with the city, but hasn’t received a response. Grover told TheBurg that HMAC’s offer, as of last week, constituted “pennies on the dollar” for what it owed.
Tilley urged council to look at the city’s amusement tax rate of 10% per ticket sold, which, she said, is higher than Philadelphia and New York City.
Amy Trout, co-founder of the Blacklisted Poets of Harrisburg, which hosts events at HMAC, said that her group found a home at the venue.
“It is the only venue in this city that has ever made us feel welcome and wanted and appreciated,” she said. “And I think it is so important to support the arts.”
Another man, who said he is a local promoter who hosts events at HMAC, said that Chris Werner, an HMAC principal, gave him a chance.
“I hope that there’s an answer because if there isn’t and HMAC closes down, I have to figure something out,” he said. “I started from the bottom there.”
Another woman who used to work for HMAC said that working at the venue gave her “purpose.”
“We want to stay working in the city, we want to stay living in the city, and a lot of us, it’s a very real possibility that we’ll have to leave the city both as residents and workers […] We want to stay and we love our city very much.”
Werner’s daughter even stepped up to the mic to share how her father’s business impacted her.
“HMAC has always been my safe place and where I felt the most protected,” she said. “It’s where I see my future. It’s where I learned everything. While most kids grow up trying to figure out their future, I’ve always known.”
Several council members expressed their support for city businesses and said that they would look into the situation with HMAC.
“I don’t want to see another Harrisburg business close. I really hope that we can all work together, we’re all adults in this room, and find a solution because I don’t think any of us can afford for another Harrisburg business to close,” said council member Jocelyn Rawls.
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