Hartford Business Journal

Give Give gift gift the the of fun, friends, of fun, friends, and a happy and a happy environment, environment, Give Give the the gift gift of summer of summer camp camp $40 sends a child to camp for a day, $200 sends a child to camp for a week, $800 sends a child to camp for a month, and $1,200 for the 6-week camp season TO MAKE A DONATION TO MAKE A DONATION, visit www.campcourant.org and click on Donate Now Donate Now or send a check made payable to Hartford's Camp Courant, 285 Broad Street, Hartford, CT 06115 Your support is needed now more then ever. We thank you. For 126 years, Camp Courant has touched and improved the lives of hundreds of Hartford children and youth, and it provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to families who cannot afford to send their children to summer camp. ARTS BIZ By Frank Rizzo Special to the Hartford Business Journal L ast year, The Bushnell's leaders were confident they could erase the performing- arts venue's $9.2-million debt by the end of 2020, its 90th anniversary year. Now they hope to retire the Hart- ford-based theater's long history of debt by its 100th anniversary in 2030. What changed? It wasn't the pandemic, said CEO and President David Fay. The Bushnell actually refinanced and paid down some of its debt in March — 10 days before the forced COVID-19 shutdown, Fay said. The timing was fortuitous in what has turned out to be one of the most challenging years ever for The Bushnell and the rest of Connecticut's performing-arts industry. "Interest rates were so low it didn't make sense to buy [the loan] all the way down to zero," Fay said, not- ing that The Bushnell now has $5.7 million in remaining debt, which matures in 10 years and carries a 2.76% interest rate. "I'm glad we made the plan to do what we did before the virus was an issue. Taking $4 million- plus out of our cash flow and buying [the debt] down made sense before [the pandemic hit] — and after. It was a good balance of investment oppor- tunity versus mitigating our down- side risk by buying down the debt." Webster Bank provided the re- financing, which will free up some cash flow in the years ahead. But it's questionable whether anyone would have made that loan after the virus forced the theater to close in March amid the pandemic. "Probably, I think, but it would have cost more, not because interest rates would be any higher — they are now what they were back then — but be- cause of the whole question of, 'When are you going to be back up and running and have earned revenue again?' " Debt legacy In fall 2019, things were looking bullish for The Bushnell in terms Course Correction The Bushnell refinances debt as pandemic weighs on its finances The Bushnell's CEO David Fay is leading the Hartford theater through perhaps its most challenging year ever. Continued on page 24 >> www.HartfordBusiness.com • November 30, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 23 The Bushnell took on debt to help pay for construction of its Belding Theater. HBJ FILE PHOTO PHOTO/CONTRIBUTED

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