So in 1980, with assistance from the City of Cambridge, the Multicultural Arts Center obtained a 99-year lease on the Middlesex County Superior Courthouse Complex, known as Bulfinch Square, for a nominal rent of $1 per year. That was the first step - and it was huge - because for a brief period we had a 99-year lease for $1 per year on a building that is currently valued at twelve million ($12,000,000) dollars!

But before we could move in, we needed to do a great deal of clean-up and repair, and so the second step involved The Multicultural Arts Center obtaining an $835,000 Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG), again with the help of the City of Cambridge, to renovate Bulfinch Square.

The Multicultural Arts Center entered into an agreement and loaned the UDAG funds to architect Graham Gund and gave him assignment of the 99-year lease - forever changing our status from lease owner to renter.






Our Lease What are the costs associated with renting this beautiful building each year?

Our current rental agreement is based on terms agreed to in 1985, (with revisions that were negotiated in 1991). We never did end up with a $1 per year rent, as some folks still seem to think, but having assigned the lease to Graham Gund, (d/b/a Bulfinch Square LP), we currently pay rent totaling about one hundred thirty thousand dollars ($130,000) per year - or about $11,000 per month.

This requires that we raise funds, like other non-profits, to pay our rent and to cover our other expenses. Each year, for example, we receive an end of year bill for operating costs and we are asked to pay for "our share" of the operation of Bulfinch Square, based on the square footage we occupy within the complex. These expenses are called escalation charges - and they seem to escalate each year. They are on top of our $130,000 per year rent - so as you can imagine - we need to raise a lot of money each year!

We are also responsible, based on the way our lease was written, to make all of our own interior upgrades and improvements. Over the last three years we have raised $130,000 in grant money and donations and have made significant improvements to our two galleries and our theater.

Support How can you provide critical help?

People who visit us, or attend shows here have repeatedly commented on how beautiful our art center is. Many newcomers to the Multicultural Arts Center ask us if we just opened! We have new chairs and tables in the theater, a new lighting system, curtains and window treatments and fresh paint on most every surface.

The Boston Globe thinks we have the "best (music) listening room in Boston," and if you have visited our Jazz Club you would have to agree.

We know that we are very fortunate to be able to have such a unique and elegant venue, but it costs a great deal of money to be here each year, and we look forward to continuing to be here until our lease expires in 2084!

We are quite pleased with what our hard work and caring effort has created, and so we hope that you will consider becoming a member of the Multicultural Arts Center, attending a music or dance concert, purchasing artwork from our galleries, or talking with your employer about becoming a corporate member.

There are so many ways that you can support this wonderful cultural institution and community art center - and we hope you will! You can ensure we remain the vibrant and uniquely positioned community venue that we are--New England's only multicultural visual and performing arts center!

The Cambridge Historical Commission recently awarded us
a 2009 Preservation Award for the historic preservation
work completed in our Theater!