In its first official appearance before the Columbus Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors, the Preservation Society of Columbus received confirmation it would participate in — but not operate — the 80th Columbus Pilgrimage next spring.
However, the newly formed preservation society — made up of antebellum property owners whose home tours have traditionally been the bedrock of Pilgrimage — is still awaiting assurance that CVB will fund them the $117,000 they requested to operate the annual event in 2021 and beyond.
“We don’t think a whole lot was accomplished as far as what we were requesting,” PSC president Dick Leike said after he appeared before CVB’s board at its meeting on Monday to request the funds. “It kind of leaves us hanging.”
In September, the newly-formed 5013(c) nonprofit informed the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation and CVB, which share the same board of directors, that PSC would take over operational control of the event in 2021. Since then, PSC has met twice with CCHF to ask for funding for 2021, but was told CCHF has no funds. CVB has provided funding for Pilgrimage since it was founded in 2008 through the county’s 2-percent restaurant and hotel sales tax.
The requested $117,000 is based on what CVB provided CCHF to put on Pilgrimage from 2014-2017, based on CCHF tax records.
However, the CVB board declined to move to provide funds to PSC for the 2021 Pilgrimage at Monday’s meeting.
“We didn’t have the information we needed to make that decision,” said board member Liz Terry, who ran Monday’s meeting in the absence of board chairman Steve Wallace. “I do believe it is the intention of this board to provide funds at the Pilgrimage, but that decision is part of the budget process. After losing the 2-percent money last year (which was re-instated this year), we’re still building our cash balance. As of today, we don’t know what, exactly, will be available.”
Terry said that while the board discussed the funding issue, it was hard to arrive at specific numbers.
“There are a lot of other events associated with the Pilgrimage and trying to pull out exactly what money was part of the Pilgrimage itself and what money was for those other things was difficult to determine,” Terry said. “Our accountant (Tom Buckley) had a hard time giving us those hard numbers, but I do expect us to have that information soon, maybe by our next meeting (Nov. 18).”
Leike said PSC will return to the board as often as it takes to get an answer on the funding question.
“We’re going to get verification,” he said. “We tried to get it today, but it didn’t happen. It’s one of those situations. I do think (the CVB board) is coming around though. I think their folks are working to resolve this.”
The CVB board considered just one motion: confirming CCHF will operate the 2020 Pilgrimage as it has done for the past decade. The board voted for the motion, 7-0, with Wallace and board member Brock Reynolds absent.
Who was responsible for operating the 2020 event came into question when the CCHF board voted on Oct. 14 to give up control of the Pilgrimage to PSC immediately, something PSC officials said the group was not prepared to do.
“I guess the big thing from the meeting was making sure the 2020 Pilgrimage was taken care of,” said CVB board member Whirllie Byrd. “What we decided is that 2020 Pilgrimage will be held and the CVB will fund it.”
Leike assured the CVB board that PSC homeowners will participate in the 2020 Pilgrimage by making their homes available for the Pilgrimage’s tour of homes.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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