PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — Pueblo City Council failed to pass the second reading of an ordinance Monday on whether to give the Leonardo da Vinci Museum $885,000 in taxpayer money, a request that has drawn scrutiny from community members.
Council voted 2-5, with Councilmembers Brett Boston and Mark Aliff in support of the ordinance.
The museum has been open for about two months and says it has welcomed 10,000 visitors in that time; it reported half of those visitors came from outside Pueblo, and 15% outside of the state and even the country.
The $885,000 would have gone toward signage, STEAM programming, and construction of a café. Without the city funding, building out those elements will now take years unless other funding opportunities arise.
The funding would come from revenue collected through a half-cent sales tax, one designated use of which is "placemaking”, an economic development concept. News5 previously interviewed Nicki Hart, a former contractor for the museum, who said she does not believe the museum qualifies under that definition or the city's own criteria.1
Watch News5's Previous Coverage in the Video Player Below
The museum previously requested $1.8 million from the city. That was dropped down to $885,000 after it said the original ask did not meet certain criteria.
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