Government Loans

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided financial information regarding the reconstruction of the Filene Center, a stage facility at the Wolf Trap Farm Park, a national park which Congress established from a private donation of land and money.

GAO found that: (1) the federal government self-insured the Center; (2) Congress provided a $9 million grant and $8 million in 5-year matching loans for reconstruction; and (3) the reconstructed Center required about $4.1 million for additional repair work. GAO also found that the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts: (1) agreed to reconstruct the Center after the National Park Service (NPS) advised that it would take 10 years to reconstruct the Center; (2) raised about $4.6 million for reconstruction and about $2.5 million for legal and other costs; (3) spent 25 percent of its personnel time over the past 6 years on reconstruction matters; (4) believes that it has exhausted its fund-raising potential for reconstruction costs, since the Center is now operational; (5) pays for the Center's fire protection, liability, and risk insurance; (6) stated that it required all of its $1.3 million of net working capital as of October 31, 1987, to meet the program mission; and (7) believes that the government should forgive its debt, since NPS would have eventually rebuilt the Center. GAO believes that forgiving a portion of the debt and refinancing the balance over a longer period of time would provide some return of funds to the government.