Bailing Out of Essex, Babaroosa Proposes an Immersive Art Exhibit in Burlington's Memorial Auditorium 

Organizers of Babaroosa, a massive art destination scheduled to open in 2024 in the Essex Experience retail and events center, have decided that it won't be experienced in Essex after all.

Their proposed plan B: Burlington's Memorial Auditorium.

Babaroosa cofounder Teresa Davis confirmed on Thursday that organizers of the 20,000-square-foot, multisensory, interactive art installation were unable to secure the necessary financing to complete the project in Essex — despite a $4.75 million loan guarantee awarded in May by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Nearly three years ago, we began exploring Essex as the site for Babaroosa," Davis wrote in an email. "[Essex Experience owner] Peter Edelmann was a fantastic partner and Babaroosa’s concept was synergistic with everything else happening at the Essex Experience."
Nevertheless, after the financing stalled a few months ago, Babaroosa's backers began exploring Memorial Auditorium as an alternative venue. 

"We were encouraged to utilize the [Memorial] site by a range of stakeholders, including supporters of arts and culture, historic preservation, downtown redevelopment, and education," Davis wrote. "We learned that a wider range of funding sources would be available to us at Memorial Auditorium, including grants related to historical preservation and economic development."

Davis highlighted several key advantages to locating the project in Burlington, including  Memorial's long history as an arts, cultural and community event venue. Its proximity to other cultural institutions, transportation hubs and potential educational partners, including the University of Vermont, Champlain College and Burlington's public schools,  "make Memorial an enticing location," she added.

Davis, who launched the project with her husband, Robert Davis, told Seven Days in May that their permanent, multifaceted art installation would cost an estimated $23 million to build and launch. The project is named after the babirusa, a spiral-tusked boar depicted in an Indonesian cave painting discovered in 2017. Experts described the cave painting, estimated to be nearly 40,000 years old, as the world’s oldest figurative art.

For his part,  Edelmann said he's disappointed that Babaroosa won't happen at the Essex Experience.

“I think it’s a great concept. I love it and I wish them luck down there," he said. "I would have loved to have done it out here, but they weren’t able to pull it off.”

Edelmann noted that Babaroosa maintained an office on his premises, for which he never charged rent. He also said he invested his own time and money in engineering and legal services to develop the project and lined up all the necessary town permits and approvals. For a time, Edelmann proposed siting the art installation in eight of the movie theaters at Essex Cinemas, which has struggled financially due to the pandemic.

“I was disappointed they didn’t ask me to join them,” he added. “That would have been appropriate for all I’ve done. But not everything works.”

Nevertheless, Edelmann expressed no interest in filing a lawsuit to recoup his lost investment. “I could probably make waves,” he said, “but life is too short.”
Memorial is far from a done deal. Babaroosa is just one of three organizations that responded to the City of Burlington's request for proposals to repurpose the 93-year-old building, which was condemned in 2016 due to structural issues. Illinois housing developer Hawthorne Development submitted a plan to construct 40 apartments and a 3,000- to 3,500-square-foot community space in Memorial. And Burlington nonprofit Big Heavy World submitted a plan to reopen its youth-led music venue 242 Main at its former home.

The Burlington City council is expected to discuss the matter at a meeting in late January.