Costin favors Septemberfest, questions Trickster Gallery

The campaign of Schaumburg mayoral candidate Brian Costin has emphasized cutting back village spending to core services, but don't expect him to cancel Septemberfest, close up the Prairie Center for the Arts or fire the cultural services department if elected.

Costin said all these aspects of Mayor Al Larson's government are performing quite well and he has no plans to eliminate them.

In fact, his strongest area of concern about Schaumburg's cultural services is whether the village's leasing of the current Trickster Gallery in Town Square to the American Indian Center of Greater Chicago for $1 a year is truly the highest and best use of that property.

Costin has no disagreement with the American Indian Center as the building's current tenant — or the Athenaeum design and sculpture museum before it — but rather the village's practice of using taxpayer money to sustain a cultural component he believes the private sector should.

“It's really fun to spend other people's money for art galleries, but that doesn't mean that's the right thing to do,” Costin said. “What I question is politicians making arbitrary decisions about artwork.”

Costin said he's troubled by the fact the village recently spent more than $2.5 million renovating the building near the southwest corner of Roselle and Schaumburg roads for $1 a year in rent.

Costin argued that if there's truly an audience for the work displayed at the gallery, it should be one whose own spending can sustain it.

But Larson said that even in the early stages of planning Town Square, it was recommended to have a cultural component instead of being purely retail. Larson said he learned this concept at a seminar of the Mayors' Institute of Design.

“If you're going to build a town center, it ought to be more than just a place to shop,” Larson said. “We wanted to have a cultural presence there.”

That's why the Schaumburg Township District Library was wooed to build its new central library in Town Square, and what originally attracted the Athenaeum to seek a satellite location there, Larson said.

Costin also has concerns about the village's lingering plans to build a 2,400-seat performing arts theater next to the convention center, but Larson said he shares those concerns in this economic climate.

Back in 2004, the village opted not to build the theater in conjunction with the Renaissance Hotel and convention center because of economic issues, even though most officials felt the two projects would complement each other.

Costin said he applauds the decision to wait, but is concerned it may yet be overturned.

“I really think government shouldn't be trying to put on Broadway shows with taxpayer money,” Costin said.

Larson said the cultural services department already has proved it knows how to responsibly run a performing arts facility with the Prairie Center, but couldn't guess whether the right time to build the larger theater would be within the next four years.

Costin agreed that the Prairie Center itself is well run, and is especially happy with the amount of philanthropic support it has received from local businesses and donors.

Septemberfest, held on Labor Day weekend for 40 years, has also proven itself a constant crowd-pleaser that pays for itself, Costin said.

“That's evidence that people really want it,” Costin said. “I would never dream of cutting Septemberfest.”