Spokane Civic Theatre needs our financial help.
Bobo's not in the habit of simply reproducing press releases, but this seems like an emergency crying out for your attention.
Problem: Original boiler unit cracked. Must be replaced immediately.
Sold-out audiences all weekend for A Christmas Carol and upcoming I’ll Be Back Before Midnight.
Amount needed: $50,000
Request: Please get the word out to the community of Spokane.
Requesting donations to replace boiler unit.
Send Donations to: 1020 North Howard St., Spokane WA 99201
Questions: (509) 325-1413.
When the new management at Spokane Civic Theatre was hired, they made a commitment to raise the quality of the productions, create and maintain a balanced budget, and upgrade and make improvements to the building structure.
This fall, the heating/cooling unit was upgraded with electronic control systems and other improvements. At the time, the boiler unit was in working order and considered a viable piece of machinery. Keeping the existing boiler was detrimental to the upgrades because the theatre could not afford to replace the entire unit.
During the cold temperatures, the system was put to the test and running flawlessly. Many patrons said this was the most comfortable they had ever been at the theatre when attending productions.
On the morning of Friday, December 16, an alarm in the new controls system went off and the staff was alerted to a problem. Upon further review, it was found that the boiler unit had cracked after 40 years of existence. A cracked boiler cannot be fixed; it must be replaced.
Spokane Civic Theatre has made many improvements during the season, but the cost of a new boiler unit is far beyond the current funds of the theatre. The theatre is now asking the community of Spokane for help in its time of need.
This comes at a difficult and challenging time for theatre. Spokane Civic Theatre has been successful on keeping a balanced budget and working through the challenges presented in previous years. We cannot afford to cancel any productions until it is fixed. We have been playing to sold-out audiences, and securing that income is detrimental to our success in the 2005 – 2006 season.
Please help us notify the community of Spokane that we need their help in order to continue presenting national award-winning productions and offering our mammoth youth program entitled the Spokane Civic Theatre Academy.
Methinks the words "essential" and "detrimental" have been switched in this article. Or did I read it wrong? I hope Civic gets lots of support in this time of crisis.
ReplyDeleteI have already heard Troy Nickerson is planning a fundraiser performance in January. I attended the Interplayers fundraiser he organized, and it was fabulous. It would be nice if the artistic community could pull together and get this money raised quickly.
ReplyDeleteBRRRRRRRRR
ReplyDeleteHmmm, maybe Civic should consider putting money in an emergency fund for occasions such as this instead of wasting their resources remodeling the office space 5 TIMES!
ReplyDeleteOK snarkmeister, the office space has not been remodeled 5 times. It was enlarged (I think that was about 5 years ago), and recently one wall was added with a door to give some privacy and sound control. Admittedly, furniture has been moved around a lot, (donated furniture, by the way), and walls have been painted. That's it.
ReplyDeleteYou show me a community theatre in the country that has a $50,000.00 contingency fund. Get real. Thousands have closed their doors in the years since 9/11. But Civic is still here.
Why all the animosity toward Civic? Especially to a group that has been in control less than a year? Why go out of your way to be rude to an organization at a difficult time? Why not claim your opinion? Just wondering.
To Anonymous 2:48 PM, for what it's worth, when Civic initiated its half million dollar capital fund raising campaign about 6 years ago, the Board (of which I was then a member) set aside $60,000 of the money raised in a designated account to be used to replace the boiler. This is something we all knew would have to happen at some point, since the boiler was already about 35 years old. I assume the funds in this designated account are still available to Civic for this purpose, but perhaps it's no longer enough money to do the job.
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ReplyDeleteBack at ya
ReplyDeleteWow...did the snarking smart-aleck even read Ms. Roberts' entry?
ReplyDeleteKim has presented an incredibly even-handed and, dare I say diplomatic statement. There was nothing in the entry that in any way drew a negative conclusion. (or even suggested one.) Ms. Roberts' actual OPINION remains a mystery still.
The small minded, dare I say foolish, among us might go so far as to read into what was actually stated, but that is their opinion eeking through, not hers.
For the love of mike, Grow up!
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ReplyDeleteI do love Mike.
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