AUBURN — The city will begin negotiating a 100-year lease giving Community Little Theatre control of the Great Falls Arts Center.
Councilors reviewed a memo from the theater group’s President Karen Mayo Monday night, then voted to let City Manager Glenn Aho begin negotiating a lease based on the memo.
“We would continue to stay dedicated to the performing arts and collaborate with other art agencies when we can,” Mayo said. “We have made this our top priority.”
According to the memo, the city would preserve the eastern portion of the building, home to the theater and its costume storage space, the gym, a handful of artists and exercise spaces and vacant offices.
The western side, home to two dance academies and a dance supply store, the Franco American Genealogical Society, the Share Center and artist studies, would close and would be demolished.
Mayo showed artistic plans for the renovated site, using the land under the western section for parking.
The city would lease the space to the theater group for $1 per year through 2110.
City officials and members of the theater group board have been discussing the fate of the building since November, when the City Council voted to move all tenants out of the building in May 2011 and knock it down in June. That spurred renewed talks between the theater group and the building’s 12 other tenants.
Councilors gave negotiations their approval Monday, but were reluctant. Councilor Dan Herrick said he was concerned that the city might still responsible for costs and Councilor Belinda Gerry said she wanted some assurances the city would still be able to use the park in front of the building.
Economic Development Director Roland Miller said the lease would cover details about insurance and other uses.
Councilor Eric Samson said that no matter how the lease is structured, transferring a well used public space into a private group’s hands is going to take some getting used to.
“Things like the gymnasium or the EL drama program are not the top priorities,” Samson said. “We won’t own the building, so we won’t have that control.”
Community Little Theatre/City of Auburn Memo of Understanding
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