NOVEC Donates $50,000 to Community Performing Arts Center Project

Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com

MANASSAS, VIRGINIA— Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) President and CEO Stan Feuerberg presented George Mason University (GMU) President Alan G. Merten a check on February 7, 2007 for the new Community Performing Arts Center to be built on GMU's Prince William Campus.  NOVEC is contributing $50,000 to the center over five years.

The state-of-the-art center is a joint project of Prince William County, GMU, and the City of Manassas.  The Campaign for the Community Performing Arts Center is raising a $15 million endowment that will make ticket prices affordable and ensure access for school programs and the many community arts groups in the region.   Construction will begin in summer 2007 and the center will open in autumn 2009.  Merten and Bill Reeder, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, thanked Feuerberg for NOVEC's contribution.  

The arts center will include two performance halls, large conference rooms, and an art gallery.  The new center will not only be a home for local and regional performing arts groups, but will also bring to Northern Virginia some of the finest performing artists from across the nation and around the world.

Feuerberg told Merten and Reeder that NOVEC serves Northern Virginia in ways other than providing reliable energy.  Feuerberg said, "NOVEC is committed to investing in our communities.  This contribution to the performing arts center is evidence of that commitment.  We are pleased to be among the first corporate sponsors and patrons of the new center."

Merten said, "We appreciate this generous donation.The early donations are the most important.  We plan to use this money to make an arts center that everyone in the area will enjoy, with music, dance, theatre and art for every taste."  Merten said the center will showcase a wide range of art, from ballet to jazz, and from classical music to country and bluegrass.