Money, park part of Holly deal
The widow of musical icon Buddy Holly will receive expanded royalties, fees and her name on a new local park under the terms of the contract the Lubbock City Council approved with little public discussion Monday.
Lubbock will pay Maria Elena Holly $20,000 in license fees and increase her royalty income by an estimated $80,000 over the 20-year life of the contract, according to city staff estimates.
Councilman Paul Beane, who negotiated the contract at the request of the council, hoped the new agreement and park would smooth friction between Lubbock and the widow of one of the city’s most influential residents.
Local efforts to celebrate Holly’s international influence on music have run against his estate’s protection of the singer’s publicity. Tension between Lubbock residents and Maria Elena Holly helped scuttle a music festival and dampen local enthusiasm for recognizing a local icon.
“The relationship between the city and Mrs. Holly had been broken for more than a decade,” Beane said. “I felt like the city and Mrs. Holly should undergo some type of healing process, and I thought that this would be the best way to move the healing process to a successful conclusion.”
Council approved the new agreement 5-1, with Councilwoman Linda DeLeon opposed. Councilman John Leonard was absent.
The contract commits to the licensing fee, to $900,000 in improvements budgeted last year to the Buddy Holly Center, and to a new, small park across from the center that hosts the singer’s statue and will bear the couple’s names.
Staff have not yet offered estimates on the cost of the park.
Lubbock also agreed to broaden Holly’s 15 percent royalty income from licensed merchandise related to the rocker to all merchandise sold at the center.
The expansion would now include goods related to fine arts exhibits or other merchandise. What once earned Holly $8,000 a year will now bring in an estimated $12,000 annually.
Most council members reached last week had roundly praised Beane for his work on the negotiations. Mayor Tom Martin said the council chose Beane, the only member with a good relationship with the estate, after a Fort Worth law firm assured the city that council would need an agreement to continue operating the Buddy Holly Center.
Beane said the agreement was worth it to recognize such an important former resident.
“I don’t know of another artist that has come out of Lubbock that continues to attract the interest of Buddy Holly,” Beane said. “None have reached the stature of Buddy. I hope that many more will. But at this time there is no other.”
DeLeon, the sole nay vote, felt council deserved more time to look at the contract. She also thought that residents who had approached her opposed to the contract deserved a voice on the council, even if they were outnumbered.
“It’s moving forward. The majority of the council voted for it and thinks it’s a grand deal,” DeLeon said.
