For the purpose of full disclosure: I am a musician. Forty years ago I started out to be a star and did nothing and I am still enjoying doing that today, occasionally showing up at an open mic. I’ve rented the Egyptian Theatre and was thrilled to perform there. I worked with the late Irv Kummerfeldt in publishing and with his wife Barb in tourism through the 80s and early 90s. Two class acts. If not for them something other than the Egyptian Theatre would now occupy that space. Fourth ward alderman Brendon Gallagher may have never seen the REM concert at the Egyptian.
Add to that the hiring and performance of Alex Nerad and his positive impact on the Egyptian’s bottom line and you can count me in. There’s not a downtown establishment more worthy of a near million dollar grant than the Egyptian Theatre. And besides, I might want to rent the theater again and comfortable seating in an air conditioned environment would be cool!
But I accepted the late Mayor Frank Van Buer’s request to serve on the Finance Advisory Committee. He told me he needed me to keep asking tough questions. So I will.
What is the total cost of the Egyptian Theatre/ReNew proposal?
Who will cover the spread between revenues and expenditures should the latter outpace the former due to air conditioning and/or increased staffing?
The funds requested are available because ReNew DeKalb has near completed a sizable public works project in what will be ahead of schedule and under budget. The monies are left from general obligation bonds sold to finance (through TIF) downtown improvements. Because they’re ten year bonds the money cannot be used towards retiring the debt. About $800,ooo of the funds are earmarked for the Egyptian Theatre. It’s still borrowed money and the fund should be charged with the ten year interest costs.
The proposal calls for a two year commitment from the City. The first year will address seating replacement and interior repairs to the historic theater. Year Two addresses air conditioning. The operational costs for cooling a 1,300 seat capacity theater are unknown. Nerad assured the city council that the Preservation of the Egyptian Theatre Board of Directors would design a plan to cover the increased costs of adding air conditioning.
Fiscal accountability requires scrutinizing the plan before granting the money. Approving a grant without reviewing its plan is irresponsible policy.
The merits of the sizable public investment into the Egyptian Theatre are highly valued by the participative and appreciative arts community. By sheer numbers alone (and those numbers are tax dollars) the Egyptian Theatre is the anchor for downtown’s evening restaurant and bar business. Increasing matinee scheduled events would bring additional foot traffic for the businesses not open when the Egyptian hosts most of its events. Expanding its seasons adds to potential revenue and downtown traffic. Its all good.
But what if PET doesn’t plan on staffing for day and night events year around? Who covers the spread?
ReNew DeKalb and City of DeKalb staff have done well in its construction management of what was a historically massive public works project for downtown DeKalb. On time and under budget are the magic words. The downtown looks better than it has since I’ve been here. But the revitalization plans used to secure the public debt call for even more massive private investment.
Private investment is the proof in the pudding. That’s the ball the city council can’t take their eyes off of. That’s the big door prize.
What impact will investing the surplus borrowed funds into the Egyptian Theatre have on attracting private investment?
All that said I hope the Egyptian Theatre produces a plan the public can chew on and the city council can be confident of.
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Gallagher was asking tough questions, Mark. So was Ron Naylor. The purpose of the COW meeting was to get approval to bring the issue as an action item to the regular city council meeting. I’m hoping the folks at the Egyptian can answer all the questions but to avoid the appearance of fast tracking and to avoid down-the-road unaccounted for costs the council should set aside the air conditioning requests until they can review and scrutinize a business plan appended with costs associated with air conditioning and increased staff for expanded hours and seasons.
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I was at that same REM concert at the Egyptian. I’m glad I did not bump into Brendon back then or my life would have been truly tarnished.
On that note, despite Mr Gallagher’s desire to offer a blank check to the Egyptian, tough questions must be answered. It almost seems as if Mr Gallagher and the City council are putting this on the Fast track without analyzing all the details and thinking through all the expenses involved.
The tough questions will not be answered and the council will rubber stamp this project…mark my words.
A quick side note: back in 1984 Michael Stipe from REM was walking down College Avenue in front of the Former Kishwaukee hall on the evening of the concert. He popped into the NIU student run radio station that I worked for and I got to interview him on the air. Cool memory!