Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Going From Rented Space to a Permanent Home?

Message

   Hello Everyone,

Here is my situation,I am on the board of my local CT and we are considering moving to a permanent home.  Right now we have a couple of storage sheds where we keep our flats and stage sections, etc. and we rent a convention room with a curtain and lighting system from the park district for our performances.  We are having a meeting next month to discuss our options and decide whether or not to start actively searching for a building to mortgage and make our permanent theater, or to stay with our current arrangement.  I am looking for any insights, opinions, or even cautionary tales from people that have been with a theater through a move into owning their performance space.  I am hoping to have a few things I can print out and share at this meeting.  Thanks to anyone who can help.

PS. I am posting this under several threads to get different points of view so please feel free to ignore it if you see it elsewhere.  

Author	Message
eveharrington Celebrity Joined: 8/28/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 198	Topic: Going From Rented Space to a Permanent Home? Posted: 2/03/07 at 12:17am
	Hello Everyone, Here is my situation,I am on the board of my local CT and we are considering moving to a permanent home. Right now we have a couple of storage sheds where we keep our flats and stage sections, etc. and we rent a convention room with a curtain and lighting system from the park district for our performances. We are having a meeting next month to discuss our options and decide whether or not to start actively searching for a building to mortgage and make our permanent theater, or to stay with our current arrangement. I am looking for any insights, opinions, or even cautionary tales from people that have been with a theater through a move into owning their performance space. I am hoping to have a few things I can print out and share at this meeting. Thanks to anyone who can help. PS. I am posting this under several threads to get different points of view so please feel free to ignore it if you see it elsewhere.
	"If nothing else, there's applause... like waves of love pouring over the footlights."

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dougb Celebrity Joined: 3/30/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 148	Posted: 2/03/07 at 11:43am
	I think it's just a matter of economics: Can you afford it? You talk about the "park district". Are you paying fair market rent or is it subsidized? Do you have a true understanding of all the costs of ownership? What about the costs to renovate the building? There are lots of hidden problems when you renovate - handicap access for just one. There are many, many hidden costs when you own - like taxes,maintenance, insurance, utility assessments and on and on. Can you make the payments when you are between productions? We don't own because we don't want the pressure to make monthly payments. We like the flexibility to do productions at different spaces and other theaters.
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Money Talk
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Theater Administration :Money Talk

Topic: Going From Rented Space to a Permanent Home?( Topic Closed)