No shortage of ideas to revive Metropolis, but which one is right one?
Arlington Heights officials have agreed to give Metropolis Performing Arts Centre enough money to keep the doors open while the debate continues on how to fix the struggling theater — and if Thursday night's marathon meeting is any indication, there is no shortage of potential solutions.
Arlington Heights residents, Metropolis officials and village board members debated ideas for more than four hours.
Although there wasn't a consensus, it is clear that Metropolis will need to change its plan.
“The theater definitely needs a new direction,” Trustee John Scaletta said. “This isn't working, and we have to find a new way forward.”
On Thursday, the village board promised another $450,000 to keep Metropolis open through April — the end of the fiscal year — but with stricter village oversight.
Arlington Heights has been actively subsidizing Metropolis Performing Arts Centre since 2005, using money collected by the village's food and beverage tax. Including the $2 million purchase price for a portion of the Metropolis complex in 2005, the village's total investment surpasses $5 million.
Metropolis officials presented several ideas to help get themselves back on track, including downsizing staff and performances to bring down operating expenses.
“Less is more. We need to do fewer performances and make them higher quality,” Metropolis board member Chris Dungan said. He admitted that some shows in recent years have had fewer than 20 people in the audience.
Downsizing could mean dropping the number of performances to about 180 a year from the 350 Metropolis does now, interim Director Neil Scheufler said. He said the theater has already canceled some shows this season due to low ticket sales.
Metropolis wants to expand its partnership with Second City improv and work out a deal with a major Chicago theater to bring some of its shows out to Metropolis for a weekend at time, Scheufler said.
Business owners, including a majority on the Arlington Heights Chamber board and some downtown restaurants, have gotten behind raising the village's food and beverage tax — part of which funds Metropolis — from 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent.
Mayor Tom Hayes said he might consider that if Metropolis overhauls its business plan, but other trustees are resistant to raise taxes.
“A tax is a tax is a tax, and somehow people are paying for it,” Trustee Carole Blackwood said.
Blackwood suggested a Metropolis foundation, using a format like Friends of the Library, to solicit donations and sponsorships.
Trustee Tom Glasgow suggested making the Metropolis executive director a village employee who would answer to trustees and the village manager, similar to Schaumburg's Prairie Center for the Arts. The Prairie Center is owned and operated as part of Schaumburg's cultural services department.
That idea didn't gain traction either. Trustee Robin LaBedz said having village employees run the theater could hurt the artistic process and even lead to censorship.
Some audience members said the village should get out of the theater business entirely, either by letting the theater close or selling it.
“It takes a lot of courage to get out of a bad trade,” resident Keith Moens said. “How much tax money are we going to throw at this thing and for what reason? If this is our economic engine, our vehicle is broken.”
Hayes said that, so far, most of the people he has heard from want to keep the theater open, but there is vocal opposition, too.
“There are other problems in this city that need to be addressed,” resident Donald Long said. “Do not throw good money after bad. We need to shut it down and go back to the drawing board.”
Several trustees worried that if the theater closes for a short time, it may never reopen.
Some trustees said it is time to change the mindset and admit that making Metropolis profitable was never realistic.
“It was doomed from the minute this thing was conceived,” Trustee Jim Tinaglia said. “It's a cluster of poor decisions, bad information and, worse yet, impossible goals. It is impossible to think that this theater is going to be self-sufficient.”
Adrian Brigham, an agent with Continental Entertainment Group, which represents Shirley Jones and Pat Boone, suggested getting rid of government funding as well.
“The subsidy takes away accountability for the theater to provide the type of entertainment the market wants,” Brigham said. He suggested closing the theater and looking for a buyer, or keep it open and letting a professional management company run it.
One speaker brought up the Onesti Entertainment Group, which bought the Arcada Theater in St. Charles in 2005 and turned it around. Ron Onesti has expressed some interest in the old Des Plaines Theatre.
Another point of contention is Metropolis theater's 350 seats, making it one of the smallest venues around — too small to bring in big name acts with high ticket prices.
“I want to know what changes need to be made to the facility,” Tinaglia said. “It would not be impossible to add another couple hundred seats ... but how much money would it take to do it?”
Other speakers countered that small black-box theaters have been successful in other cities, suggesting Metropolis needs a new business plan, not a bigger theater.
As Metropolis and the village take a few months to formulate a plan, they will likely get some outside help.
That could include two village-funded independent studies: one to determine the financial impact of Metropolis on the village and one to look at the viability of the theater as it is and possible alternative business plans.
Hayes said he will also explore an oversight committee for Metropolis that could include members of the village board, the village staff and the Metropolis board.
The long list of ideas will need to be narrowed down by early next year when Metropolis appears in front of the village board for budget hearings.
“We are at a crossroads,” Hayes said. “We are in the process of hopefully finding a permanent fix, and we have to work together to do that.”