Study states that the City of Kingsport should not be aligned with State Theater project
I have previously written concerning the proposal that the City of Kingsport buy the old State Theater See post Kingsport Developer gets in over his head, thinks old theater may be haunted and wants city to bail him out.
Now the completed study by the Cinema Preservation Group is out and can be read in its entirety in the link below. Read and form your own conclusions.
Kingsport Economic Development Board recently voted to spend nearly $10,000 to fund a study to determine the economic impact of a restored theater in downtown Kingsport. The Cinema Preservation Group is now conducting the work.
KEDB Chairman Bob Feathers said he contacted Beatty about the possibility of the city purchasing or investing in the theater after learning that Beatty was considering nonprofit status for the facility.
Feathers said he believes some type of investment can occur to complete the theater project — regardless of what the economic development study shows.
Read more via City may consider buying State Theater building – Kingsport Times-News Online.
In the recent Kingsport Times-News article below, Mayor Dennis Phillips denies that the city plans to buy the State Theatre outright. I wonder what Mayor Phillips has in mind when he stated “without an enormous expense to the taxpayers”?
Mayor Dennis Phillips said he hopes the study will encourage some individual or organization to invest in the State Theater, complete the renovations, and begin operating it for the benefit of the downtown district.
“I think if we can accomplish this without an enormous expense to the taxpayers, it certainly would be a service that is sorely needed,” Phillips said.
Asked about the Strand Theater, another Broad Street historic facility that has recently been used as a venue for live music and old movies, Phillips said the Cinema Preservation Group study could also be used by the Strand owners if they would want to market the facility one day. The Strand Theatre is owned by Restoration Church.
“I don’t know if the Strand Theater is available today. The Strand Theatre is a church,” he said.
But if the Strand were put on the market, “this report would apply … then it becomes a matter of economics of which one could be done at the least cost,” Phillips said.
He denied that the city plans to buy the State Theatre outright.
via Study envisions new future for State Theatre – Kingsport Times-News Online.
The report from the Cinema Preservation Group states that there are major problems when a non-profit theater is aligned too closely with city hall. Below are two paragraphs from the study. I would encourage you to read the entire report.
Non-profit theatres aligned too closely with city hall often fall prey to two particular problems. The first occurs when the theatre building comes to be perceived as a public facility. Various public entities feel that they should be allowed to use the facility for significantly discounted rates, or even for free. Though currently not an issue in the case of the State, this type of agreement is often adopted in order to ensure initial approval for restoration by the council and guarantee the allocation of funds for building renovations and/or other expenses. Severely discounted rates take revenue away from the theatre and occupy blocks of time that could be filled by other groups who would pay to use the building. The second problem arises when city residents perceive the theatre to be a municipal building. When this happens, it becomes extremely difficult to raise money from the community. Fundraising efforts are either simply ignored or opposed outright, and individual donors become wary of contributing to an entity they feel could and should be largely financed by tax dollars.
…….Though ticket and concession sales are the primary sources of revenue for a theatre, there are other means of earning revenue that must be explored. The vast majority of live theatres in America today will never be self-supporting, they can simply never make enough money on ticket sales and concessions to cover expenses. Even in good economic times many theatres are fortunate to earn 50% of their revenue from events. Two strategies for overcoming this revenue shortfall are fundraising and rental.
Read more via The Cinema Preservation Group Study
The survey that was used in the study is questionable because the Cinema Preservation Group chose to use the blog that is maintained by Kingsport’s Assistant Manager, Jeff Flemming. The readership of Jeff Flemming’s blog in my opinion would show a bias for the city of Kingsport and would not reflect the majority views of the Kingsport citizens. See Time Sensitive: How do you feel about State Theatre? I am sure that the response would have been different if this blog posted the survey.
It is interesting that the Cinema Preservation Group is from Asheville, NC. Prior to coming to Kingsport, Doug Beatty lived in the Asheville area.
Also, it is interesting that Richard Rose, artistic director at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, sent a letter of support for the State Theatre restoration to Kingsport City Manager, John Campbell. Rose said he reviewed the Cinema Preservation study. It is also interesting that Doug Beatty lives in the Abingdon, Virginia area
See also DKA to partner with Restoration Church on Strand Theater project,
Jeff Fleming, Assistant City Manager for Economic Development for the City of Kingsport, TN just posted a post on his blog concerning the January unemployment rates. Jeff Fleming is paid $91,898 per year by the taxpayers of Kingsport and he finds time to point out how well other areas are doing or not doing so well in the unemployment area. Jeff Fleming fails to mention anything about how Kingsport is doing and changes the 
Kingsport, it’s seems likes to talk about all the success that it is experiencing, but one needs to ask the question, if Kingsport is doing all that well, then why don’t they use some of that money from that success and pay for projects instead of borrowing money.