Mayor to pay off debt

Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez plans to invest $1.2 million into the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre, a downtown landmark that has long been financially beleaguered. Under his proposal, the city would pay off the theater's debt and effectively own it after a three-year period.\nFernandez said he has the backing of the city council, which is now threshing out the 2002 budget. Half the funding would come from the city's general fund, while about $600,000 would be drawn from property taxes in the downtown area.\n"While there are varying opinions on this subsidy, we recognize a very important facility that has done many positive things for our community," Fernandez said. "The alternative is a large, boarded-up building half a block from our downtown. It's a vibrant center of our community, and this is no different than the government funding public parks."\nAgreement is near on a public-private partnership to run the performing arts facility, which is now run by the Bloomington Area Arts Council. The Steak 'n Shake restaurant company, which is taking advantage of tax credits, owns roughly 99 percent of the recently renovated theater on paper. \nThe partnership would involve the city, the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, the Monroe County Visitors Bureau and the arts council. Burdened by $1.2 million in debt, the arts council has been operating the theater on a volunteer basis for months.\nAfter it opened its college mall location, the Kerasotes movie chain donated the theater to the arts council on the condition that it not screen films. Formerly a locally owned movie theater, Kerasotes had snapped it up in 1976.\nThe not-for-profit council embarked on a $3.2 million renovation project, restoring a balcony and making other interior improvements. With major donor support, the arts council paid off $2 million. But the stream of donations dried up.\nThe project ended up threatening the arts council's major facility, the downtown John Waldron Arts Center. Fernandez appointed a commission to straighten out the situation.\nIt recommended taking the theater's management out of the hands of the arts council and creating a public-private partnership. Fernandez said his office has a long way to go before completing the arrangement.\nUnder the loose sketch of a plan, the visitors bureau would open a visitor center in the former box office and art gallery adjacent to the Buskirk-Chumley.\nThe Lotus group would manage the theater for three years, after which ownership would revert to the city. Fernandez, who doesn't plan on running for reelection, said he hopes the next administration will seek an outside agency to run the theater.\nThe plan will likely draw criticism from conservative circles, who denounced the $100,000 loan the city made to the council last year. They argued that it's a waste of taxpayer dollars and the government has no business meddling with the free market.\nFernandez looks at it more like an investment.\n"The arts are an important part of this economy," he said. "A study the tourism center did in 1996 found that the arts bring in $20 million each year, which I would call a solid return. This is a solid investment that supports our local cultural economy -- and it also enriches lives"