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 formative projects” in communities, said Sanders, adding that he and others have long been making the case that a restored Vic- tory Theatre hosting Broadway shows and other large events can and will have a transformative effect on the local economy.
But there are other factors as well, said Susan Palmer, a princi- pal with the Palmer Westport Group, which focuses on strength- ening and developing fundraising and leadership capacity of the- aters across the country.
She has consulted on a number of projects aimed at bring- ing formerly dark theaters back to useful life, and she credits the leadership in Holyoke, and especially Joshua Garcia, the city’s first Puerto Rican mayor, with injecting some needed energy and confidence in the Victory Theatre project.
“He has been fearless; he has been relentless,” said Palmer, who was a theater producer at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield and also worked at Jacob’s Pillow, the Colonial Theater, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival before launching her consulting firm
 An architect’s rendering of a renovated Victory Theatre.
in 2005. “He has a three-legged stool of priorities for the city; he wants to increase and improve the housing stock, he wants to improve educational outcomes, and he wants Holyoke to be the center of economic revitalization in that area, and he feels put- ting the Victory Theatre back in service is a key to that.”
Garcia, who has put together a strike force (led by his wife, Stephanie) to keep the focus on the project and raise funds within the community for the efforts, said the theater proj- ect is, indeed, a key element in efforts to revitalize the city and its downtown and bring new businesses and vibrancy to the community.
“It’s more than just arts and culture; it’s really about impact to community and the secondary impact it offers.”
The theater has been closed since before he was born, but its importance to the city, from a cultural, economic-develop- ment, and pride standpoint, is certainly not lost on him, and he believes the remaining hurdles to restoration of the Victory can be cleared.
“This project is in the ninth inning, as I like to say, and we have a short window to close the funding gap,” Garcia said. “The gap is $15 million to $20 million, but a very clear and doable path has been identified.”
He said the trip to Schenectady, during which participants got to take in a performance of Aladdin, showed not only what can be done to restore a landmark, but what doing so means for the community.
“It was such an eye-opening experience to know what Sche- nectady has been able to accomplish with their community,” he said. “It’s more than just arts and culture; it’s really about impact
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