A long dance at the Shubert

Luck. Unlikely political bedmates. Shrewd determination. A dash of magic. Thursday's groundbreaking for the Minnesota Shubert Center caps a roller-coaster ride through despair and doldrums, last-minute rescues and exhausted shouts of glee.

Who would have thought that two Republicans from North Dakota would play key roles in a $42 million capital campaign for a dance center in the heart of urban Minneapolis? Who could have predicted that Minnesota First Lady Mary Pawlenty's presence on a dance company's board decades ago would play a role in creating a flagship center for contemporary dance?

The 99-year-old Shubert's latest odyssey lasted 12 years.

"There was one setback after another, and we often thought it was going nowhere," said Gary Peterson, former executive director of James Sewell Ballet, one of the companies expected to use the Shubert when it opens in spring 2011.

Kelley Lindquist, of the arts real-estate developer Artspace, admits to "smiling at my naivete that this would be done in three or four years."

But decisions Lindquist made along the way -- key hires, and a recognition that Republican allies were crucial to success -- largely got the project to where it is today.

White elephant on Block E

In the 1990s, the moribund Shubert had the Minneapolis City Council stymied. The 1910 relic threatened plans to redevelop Block E, but there was no will to tear it down, especially in the face of fierce grass-roots support and historic designation. What to do? Jackie Cherryhomes, the DFL council president, recalled a Christmas party conversation at Lindquist's house in which the idea popped up to "move the damn thing."

In search of allies, Cherryhomes looked to an odd source: Steve Minn, the conservative council member who rarely voted for downtown development issues. Whatever differences he'd had with Cherryhomes in the past, Minn had an interest in historic preservation. He was intrigued by the idea of moving the 6-million-pound structure.

"We held a press conference on the corner, and we joked how this was the first 5th-13th Ward collaboration, because we weren't generally on the same page," Cherryhomes said.

The council voted to pony up $5 million, and in February 1999, the Shubert was wheeled two blocks to its new home, next to the Hennepin Center for the Arts, which Artspace owned, at 6th and Hennepin. The logistics fascinated people, but this very public launch denied Artspace a quiet period in which to get its ducks in a row for the $24.5 million renovation.

"There was enough critical press, so people thought it was a goofy thing," said Cherryhomes. "And the longer it dragged on, the goofier people thought it was."

The legislative effort

In making the case for the Shubert, Artspace was making the case for a dance community that boasts up to 300 companies or schools in Minnesota. However, as a point of perspective, the cumulative annual budgets of Twin Cities companies total about $5 million. The Guthrie's annual budget is $27 million.

Lindquist argued that dance deserved a flagship destination, following the logic that theater had the Guthrie, classical music had Orchestra Hall and the Ordway Center, visual arts had the Walker and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The pitch worked with only a few enthusiastic donors. By 2002, Artspace had only $11 million committed to what had grown into a $34 million project.

Artspace's campaign for $15 million in state bonding was going nowhere. Lindquist at this time made two critical hires. Stacey Mickelson was a former Republican legislator from Minot, N.D., who wanted to become a lobbyist. Kim Motes was director of development with Kennedy Center and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

Mickelson had instant entree into GOP offices at a time when Tim Pawlenty had just been elected governor. Motes had experience with high-profile capital campaigns.

Despite his connections, Mickelson recognized that as long as the Guthrie was seeking bonding money, the Shubert would be overshadowed. He and Motes shifted gears. She developed an initiative using interactive video technology to teach high-school classes about dance. Mickelson secured federal funds, and the program was a hit with schools trying to fulfill dance-education requirements. This seemingly small shift proved invaluable to building outstate political support.

That support was tested in the bonding campaign of 2005. Both legislative chambers included money for the Shubert, but the project was zeroed out.

And then, magic again.

Motes was at home bathing her infant daughter when she got a call that the bonding bill had been reopened. Dean Johnson, the Senate majority leader, wanted $1 million to finish an airport project in Willmar, and Pawlenty -- who had never included the Shubert in his capital requests -- responded that he would want $1 million for that project.

"It was 8 o'clock at night and I was told to get together language for a bill seeking $1 million and have it ready by 10 the next morning," Motes said. "It was an absolute critical moment."

Although the amount of money was small, the political gesture was a kind of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval in attracting private donors.

About face

So what happened to change Pawlenty's mind? Motes points to a visit the governor made to the Hennepin Center while the Legislature was deliberating in March 2005.

"Was that the time I asked him for a million dollars?" said Linda Andrews, artistic director of Zenon Dance, when asked about the visit. "Mary [Pawlenty] was on my board a long time ago, so Tim had come to Zenon in the early years and he had an affection for us."

Motes said Pawlenty "got how the project would help Hennepin Avenue."

Johnson, now retired from the Legislature, said, "I think some of [Pawlenty's] strong Republican supporters, both by vote and finances, took him out to the woodshed, if I may be so bold, and said, 'Governor, this is important to us and therefore it should be important to you,'" Johnson said in a recent interview. "He had a new vision on Monday morning and supported the project."

By 2006, the city of Minneapolis listed the Shubert as its top bonding priority, and Kurt Zellers, a conservative Republican from Maple Grove who is today minority leader, authored the House bill for $11 million. Zellers, like Mickelson a North Dakota native, might seem an unlikely choice ("especially when you look at my voting record"), but his support hinged on two factors: First, he was moved by the Shubert's emphasis on using technology in education.

"My grandmother was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse," Zellers said. "She always said to think beyond your borders."

Second, when he was a member of the University of North Dakota student senate, Zellers had lobbied a state legislator named Stacey Mickelson.

The state money secured, Motes levered open private doors, and fundraising reached $34.5 million by the time she left the organization in 2008.

Mickelson helped secure $2 million in economic-stimulus money this year, arguing that the Shubert was shovel-ready.

Looking back on the effort, Lindquist admitted "rough moments" and "painful wisdom." But he resists the notion that Thursday's groundbreaking resulted strictly from luck.

"We had the pieces in place for something good to happen," he said. "You make your luck."

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299