Copia, the insolvent Napa-based nonprofit, received a $1 million state parks grant from the administration of former Gov. Gray Davis – and taxpayers could lose that money if the wine center sells its property in bankruptcy court.
On Monday, Copia: The American Center For Wine Food & the Arts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it needs to reorganize its debts.
The brainchild of the late vintner Robert Mondavi, Copia reported debts of between $50 million and $100 million, including $78 million owed to bondholders, and only $10 million to $50 million in assets, Copia attorney John MacConaghy said in court documents.
Copia's creditors will meet Jan. 9 at U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California in Santa Rosa.
But a new wrinkle in the Copia drama involves what Copia acquired with a $1 million grant from the state Department of Parks and Recreation. The Bee obtained documents about the grant under the Public Records Act.
Davis awarded the grant under a 2002 bill that created the Historical and Cultural Resources Preservation Opportunity Fund, said Roy D. Stearns, a parks department spokesman.
The fund aimed to boost the "preservation or interpretation of buildings, structures, sites, places, or artifacts, or any combination thereof, that preserve and demonstrate culturally significant aspects of California history."
Unlike other recipients required to compete for grants, Copia was just given the money, Stearns said.
Davis did not return a message left with his office.
The grant was not publicly announced nor mentioned in Internal Revenue Service filings, as required.
The grant money was used for various projects, including $370,000 for an outdoor demonstration kitchen and greenhouse.
More was spent on items in a garden on Copia's south property: a $211,809 promenade that included a raised medieval-style stone dais with stone wall pieces 9 feet tall, and a $152,000 children's garden.
The grant also paid for $49,000 in garden plantings; $43,000 for weather-resistant interpretive signs to identify plants; a $26,000 demonstration vineyard; and a $2,700 courtyard for visitors. The rest was spent on other items.
Copia's potential troubles with the grant stem from a requirement that projects funded by the money stay open to the public for a minimum of 20 years.
But even before it filed for Chapter 11, Copia wanted to sell its south garden property and use the $10 million it hoped to get to reduce debt, documents show.
Parks department officials told Copia, however, that if it sold the land and did not relocate state-funded items to public access areas, it would have to refund at least part of the grant, letters show.
Copia said it would relocate the children's garden and planned to refund money for the dais after the land sale.
The parks department, though, is not listed as a Copia creditor in the bankruptcy filing. A Copia spokeswoman declined to comment on how Monday's filing affects its pledge to relocate the garden and pay back the money.
Stearns said officials are reviewing the case.
Call The Bee's Andrew McIntosh, (916) 321-1215.
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