DSO Takes Big Step Toward Getting Out Of Debt

DETROIT (WWJ) - The Detroit Symphony Orchestra says it has resolved $54 million in loans owed to five banks stemming from a real estate transaction involving the orchestra's home, the Max M. Fisher Music Center.

The settlement will be announced Thursday. Details of the arrangement are not being made public and the banks aren't being identified.

DSO executive vice president Paul Hogle told the Associated Press that it's not a restructuring, adding, "This is done and behind us. I think it's a credit to the five banks."

The settlement took two to three years to negotiate, according to orchestra treasurer Arthur Weiss, who brokered the deal.

The DSO isn't out of the financial woods yet. It's still facing a projected three million dollar budget deficit for its fiscal year that begins in August. Says Hogle, "We will definitely still be in the red."