AUBURN – The Great Falls Performing Arts Center needs organizational structure before anyone thinks about renovating the building, according to a recent study.

“There is no operating structure in place at the center,” said architect Carol Burns, part of a team hired by the city and the Community Little Theater to review the facility. “Until there is a structure, I can’t say money for capital improvements on the building would be money well spent.”

Instead, Burns and architect Anita Lauricella suggested the city, the theater group and other arts organizations work to create an umbrella organization to manage the center.

Actual renovations could come years down the road and could be paid for with fundraising and rent from the center’s tenants.

The two released their study of the center to city councilors Friday. An electronic version of the document, in Adobe Acrobat format, is available for download at the city’s Web site at www.auburnmaine.org. The physical structure of the building is just part of the problem.

“Quite frankly, the structure shows evidence of deferred maintenance, and several of the systems are near the end of their usable life,” Burns said.

There is a spirit and sense of community in the building that is worth preserving, however. Groups including Community Little Theater, the Edward Little Drama Club, a dance school and a yoga instructor all call the building home.

The sheer number and variety of users is part of the problem since no single group is in charge. The city took over the 53,000-square-foot building from the School Department in 1997 and has been responsible for building maintenance since, including replacing sprinklers for the building’s gym and auditorium.

“But the building is managed ad hoc,” Lauricella said. Some groups have taken over space that they are not paying to rent simply because they could.

The pair recommended fixing some safety and health issues and dividing up the rentable space more efficiently. Rents could be increased while remaining fair to tenants, and more tenants could be brought in, Burns said. That could increase revenues – making the center self-funding.

She suggested the city could form a partnership with an umbrella group tasked with managing the center, and the two could split costs for renovating the building years down the road.

Councilors said they needed more time to go over the group’s report. “It’s 265 pages, and I only got it on Friday,” Councilor Ray Berube said. “I started reading it this weekend, and I haven’t put a dent in it. But I will read it.”

They said they’ll put the center on a future workshop agenda.