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Probation or private management in Metropolis' future

Metropolis Performing Arts Centre brings $3 million in direct spending to Arlington Heights each year.

Three-fourths of the people who bought tickets at the struggling theater last year came from outside Arlington Heights.

And any option for the future of the theater — closing it, the village taking it over completely, or letting a private management company run Metropolis — will continue to cost the village money.

Those facts and more came out of an 86-page report about the past and future of Metropolis presented Monday night by Johnson Consulting to the Arlington Heights village board. The board requested the study to find out the theater's true economic impact and help find a clear path forward after the village board gave Metropolis a $450,000 bailout in October when the theater was in danger of closing.

“This is another step in a process of hopefully revitalizing a very important community asset,” Mayor Tom Hayes said.

The study found that more than 60 percent of people surveyed thought Metropolis was a positive aspect of Arlington Heights and said they would be upset if it closed, but respondents also said there are problems ranging from mismanagement to declining quality of programming, said Charlie Johnson, president of Johnson Consulting.

Over the past four years ticket sales have declined an average of 6 percent each year, he said.

The meeting was about information rather than decision-making, but board members said they were most interested in exploring two recommendations from Johnson Consulting — either giving Metropolis a 12-month probationary period or allowing a private management company to take over running the theater.

Private management could cost the village more than $500,000 a year, according to the study, but several trustees said they would like to see that as an alternative only if the new executive director and a reworked Metropolis board cannot get the theater back on track.

Johnson said that if management is able to rework Metropolis, it could be sustainable with an annual subsidy of $300,000 or less, but that's still an increase from what the village has provided in the past.

Finance Director Tom Kuehne said the village's arts and entertainment fund, which gets money from the food and beverage tax to pay for Metropolis and other vllagewide events, does not have the funds to pay for an increased subsidy.

“Anything beyond what we're paying right now would strain the arts and entertainment fund,” he said.

In addition to the $3 million in direct spending that Metropolis brings to Arlington Heights, Johnson said the study also found $1.8 million of indirect spending, 30 jobs and $297,000 in tax revenue.

“I don't think I'm ready to throw the baby out with the bath water at this point. I like the idea of probation,” Trustee Tom Glasgow said.

The board will continue to discuss Metropolis and make decisions this spring after Metropolis presents a new budget and business plan for the upcoming year.

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