Sticker Shock
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One part of the contract sure to cause problems is the provision calling for each group to make a $21,000 deposit. An initial payment of $5,000 would be due this May, followed by another $7,000 in December and a final $9,000 in July 1996–still well over a year before the theater’s proposed opening in late 1997. Several sources say the board of directors needs the cash up front to secure the project’s financing. “The bank wants to see a commitment from the arts organizations before they make a financing commitment,” says one source.
In addition to comforting nervous banking executives, the deposit will apparently be used as a guarantee against shortfalls in rental fees. One executive director was told his group can draw from its own deposit fund to come up with a contracted rental fee, but it will have to replenish the fund and maintain its deposit at $21,000.
Joyce A. Moffat, the theater’s recently hired general manager, and the various arts groups are likely to be discussing these issues for the next several weeks. “Everything is up for discussion,” says Moffat, who hopes the groups will sign and return letters of intent by the beginning of June.
