Evansville theater has operating budget cut in half

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - The Evansville City Council has approved a 2016 budget that slashes the Victory Theatre's operating budget in half.

The council approved the city's budget Monday night, including a cut in Victory Theatre's operating budget from $700,000 to $350,000. The theater loses money annually, the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/1kam9tF ) reports.

The theater was built in 1921 and reopened in 1998 after a $15 million renovation. The 1,950-seat venue is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it regularly has concerts, comedy, dance acts and other performances.

The building's main tenant is the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, and it also houses Signature School, a charter high school.

Dave Rector, executive director of the Evansville Vanderburgh Building Authority, said cuts to Victory Theatre's budget "will have a real serious consequence." He said money cut from the budget funds basic operations including the building's infrastructure and paying personnel.

The Building Authority employs three people from the operating budget.

"We'll have to cut someplace. I don't know where that will be yet, but I think we can survive it," Rector said. "Something is going to go. What level of service, I'm not sure."

The cuts were suggested by council finance chairman Conor O'Daniel, who said Monday that Victory Theatre needs to stop losing money or face closure. Scott Schoenike, executive director for Victory Theatre manager VenuWorks, said closing it wouldn't do much good financially.

"Even if they close the Victory, they're not going to save money," Schoenike said. "You're still going to own it, you've still got to maintain it. Signature School still shares the building, so you can't turn the heat off."

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com