Soap Factory halts arts programs, seeks funding

The Soap Factory, a Minneapolis arts nonprofit, is suspending its programming and selling its longtime home in order to pay off debts.

Soap Factory Board Chair Roy Close said a planned mortgage to pay for the renovation of the building fell through. That left the Minneapolis arts nonprofit about $2.5 million in debt to RJM Construction.

Close said a sheriff's sale is being held in order to protect the construction company's assets.

"We're not angry with them," said Close. "On the contrary, we're grateful that they have provided us with as much time as they could to try to get our mortgage application through. And so they're simply protecting their interests and that's understandable, and so we're not mad at anybody."

Close said the future of the gallery's home, the historic National Purity Soap Factory, is in jeopardy as his organization works to secure a mortgage. If it succeeds, the nonprofit will use the money to buy back the building; if not, the organization will be forced to find a new home.