Sunshine streamed through the mosaic of bullet holes that perforate the roof of a cavernous storage shed squatting on the south end of the sprawling sugar factory site just south of Longmont.
Some of the light hit the shoulders of Elliot Moore as he played a snippet of Bach’s Prelude in G Major on his cello for a small group of business and government leaders who plan a new future for the sugar factory campus. Moore — music director and conductor of the Longmont Symphony Orchestra — helped unveil a campaign to champion an $80 million idea to convert the shed into a 64,000-square-foot performing arts center and a November ballot measure to help make it happen.
The proposal comes with a caveat: If the ballot measure is approved, the city would issue a $45 million bond for the project only if the Longmont Alliance for Arts and Entertainment — which includes Moore as a member — can raise $35 million within five years.