Neither side is talking publicly yet about how the Elkhart amphitheater project died, but a leaked letter is starting to shed some light.
A Facebook parody account Thursday shared the letter from retired businessman Rex Martin and his partner, Lori Harris. It was addressed to Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson, the city’s common council and redevelopment commission. Martin had pledged to donate $20 million to build and operate an amphitheater on the city-owned Central Green downtown, but he announced a week ago that he was withdrawing the gift.
Since then, Roberson and Martin have refused to speak publicly about the breakdown. Martin is a private citizen but the mayor’s silence comes despite his pledge to spend $35 million to $40 million in public money on the project.
WVPE confirmed the letter’s authenticity. In it, Martins says he had grown increasingly frustrated since last summer with the city’s delay in negotiating a development agreement. Martin wanted the agreement to protect his money and to help raise more money from others. The reason for the city’s reluctance remains unclear.
Still, the letter said things remained on track until earlier this month when the city brought in a new consultant who had not worked with Martin’s group. Martin said this would have required starting over on the negotiations, after he had already paid millions of dollars to consultants.
“This was a mistake by the city of Elkhart and should never have been required, let alone suggested, as a condition for moving forward,” they wrote.
Roberson’s spokeswoman declined Thursday to talk about the letter.
Elkhart Common Council President Arvis Dawson said he received it Friday and distributed it to council members Monday. Dawson said he had been excited about the amphitheater but he doesn’t blame Martin or Roberson.
"Nobody's right and nobody's wrong," Dawson said. "It's just something that didn't come to fruition. Actually I had a conversation with Rex Martin and asked what we could do to rectify this, and he said there's nothing we could do, and it's nobody's fault, it's just one of those things."
