Biz Blogs

Richard Rosenthal

Capitol Theatre

Posted February 12, 2011 @ 9:53AM

Most of us who have used the Capitol Theatre and know that finding a reasonably priced venue for shows in Windsor is critical to affordable productions want to see the Capitol continue to be available at costs in line with those in place the past few years. However, as a retired business person and tax payer in Windsor I also know that the costs to operate a theatre of this type will not likely be covered by rentals and show revenue. We need to keep our city taxes affordable so the they cannot be used to subsidize the operation of the Capitol either.
There is a solution that has been adopted in Saginaw, Michigan that could work here as well. A private family in Saginaw bought and renovated the Temple Theatre several years ago and attempted to operate it for the benefit of the community. Their intention was to turn it over to the community but it became apparent that this was not a viable solution because of the ongoing costs so they formed The Temple Theatre Foundation and donated the building to the foundation along with a substantial cash contribution. The Foundation has solicited funds from the local community and business to create an endowment that will be large enough to support the ongoing operational costs of the Theatre.
I believe we should look into that approach in Windsor. The original campaign to renovate the Capitol apparently did not take into account the ongoing operational shortfalls that brought us to our current situation. By having an endowment fund in place the interest earned on the funds held in perpetuity could cover the ongoing operational shortfalls including maintenance and staffing so the Capitol would be available to the community without having to constantly rely on taxpayer funding.
by Richard Rosenthal

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