For me, and putting aside the divisive issue of Clear Channel, it's hard not to conclude that the decision was more about working with hometown pals HTT/HTG and refusing to work with perceived across the river interlopers, the St. Paul-based Ordway.
Chalk this one up again to a nose-down failure to think more regionally for the benefit of us all. CM Schiff's comment that it would be a "travesty" if the Ordway was given a 'monopoly' over regional theater is absurd. We're talking three theaters in Minneapolis (already controlled by one entity) and one theater in St. Paul. Hardly a monopoly. A travesty is how this decision misses a massive opportunity to regionalize our theater approach and to involve these historic theaters with one of the Twin Cities' most respected theater institutions. HTT/HTG will certainly be able to maintain expensive Broadway hits and other plays and events in the theater district, but that's something the Ordway's proposed Twin Cities Theater Alliance could do just as well, if not better, plus be responsive to calls to make the theater experience more accessible and available to all. Importantly, when you look at a side-by-side comparison of HTT/HTG and the Ordway, HTT pales in comparison in any commitment toward involving youth, low-income folks, and others in theater and educational programming. HTT took in nearly $11 million in ticket sales in its last reported fiscal year. It received only $344,000 in direct public support. In justifying expenses for its tax-exempt purpose, it stated that it spent more than $10 million on its "exempt purpose achievement" of "ticket sales" (with $552,000 in fees going to Clear Channel) and spent a paltry $52,500 on "education." Its tax exempt purpose is to provide an opportunity for people in Minnesota to experience the theater. The Ordway, on the other hand, which promised to relocate and bring its nearly $5 million payroll to Minneapolis, is a regional leader in theater production as well as educational theater programming for youth and others. It's a big fish, and it too took in about $11 million in ticket sales in 2003. But it also serves some 50,000 kids and adults each year through its Education at Ordway Center, helps operate the annual International Children's Festival, and has assets of some $47 million. No theater entity in the Twin Cities has broader direct public support and a stronger commitment to the public good. We missed a generational chance here, for reasons that seem based more on hometown loyalty than on true commitment to a broader public good. I'm sorely disappointed, and can only now demand that the ultimate contract provide significant and meaningful opportunities for people of all walks of life to benefit from this deal. Gregory Luce St. Paul REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
