A “sustainability” project at the Toledo Museum of Art got an $11 million financing boost Thursday morning from the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.
The agency’s board of directors approved a loan of up to that amount from the Northwest Ohio Bond Fund that, along with funding from two other Ohio economic-development programs, is expected to cover the project’s $24.89 million cost.
The port authority funding will be used to replace the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system in the historic Edward Green beaux-arts building, Doreen Cutway, the art museum’s spokesman, said Thursday afternoon.
“When installed, the new HVAC system will ensure stable climate control to protect the museum’s collection and reduce the museum’s energy usage,” Ms. Cutway said. “Although we are still in the planning process, we anticipate the project will be completed in 2027.”
Thomas Winston, the port authority’s president and chief executive officer, said the collective funding was “probably the largest collaboration” between the Toledo port authority, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, and the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority, which will provide $6.73 million apiece in financing.
“This is a large, catalytic project for our region,” Mr. Winston said before remarking that the art museum’s request was “a testament to the year we’ve had in our bond fund.”
All of the funded improvements will qualify as “special energy improvement projects” under Ohio’s Property Assessed Clean Energy statutes and the debt will be repaid with direct PACE assessments on the museum property.
The museum project’s financing was approved by a 7-0 vote, with board members Sharon Speyer and John Szuch abstaining because of their involvement in the museum and four other board members absent.
Separately Thursday, the port board voted to accept a $2 million Ohio Department of Transportation grant toward an upcoming project to renovate the passenger terminal at Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport.
Terminal renovations are “one of the key initiatives we have” that stem from a recently completed airport master plan, Mr. Winston told the board.
Airport Director Tim O’Donnell said the scope and estimated cost for the terminal renovations is still being developed but should be finalized next month.
The state funding, he and Joe Cappel, the port’s vice president for business development, said, will likely serve either to match Federal Aviation Administration funds or to cover items that are not eligible for FAA grant money.
“It’s such a large project that it has to be broken down into bite-sized chunks,” Mr. Cappel said after noting that the port has several other related grant applications pending.
While the port authority’s recent efforts to expand the airport’s passenger service beyond Allegiant Airlines’ less-than-daily flights to the Phoenix area and three Florida cities have failed, Mr. Cappel said those efforts continue and Toledo needs to have a well-kept terminal.
A lot of the renovations, he said, are age-related deficiencies that can’t be put off.
The port board also approved an inducement resolution for $18 million in bonds for the acquisition and rehabilitation of Lima Towers, a seven-story, roughly 200-unit senior housing complex in Lima, Ohio.
The inducement resolution states the port authority’s intent to issue bonds for the $35.5 million project but is not a final approval of those bonds issuance, which is tentatively scheduled for next year.
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