Arlington Heights is again bailing out the Metropolis theater, saving it from collapse in exchange for a newly created committee to oversee its troubled finances.
Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, at 111 W. Campbell St., requested $450,000 recently, announcing that it would close by the end of the month without the village’s rescue from “imminent financial collapse.” Theater officials said $300,000 of the money would pay down its debt and the rest would be used for day-to-day operations through the end of the fiscal year on April 30, 2015.
The village board then held a special meeting to discuss the request, which lasted nearly four and a half hours, officials said. At its regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 6, the emergency money was approved with trustees Carol Blackwood and Mike Sidor voting against the proposal.
Sidor said he wanted more oversight now that the village has broken its long-standing position of being hands off with the theater it partially owns but does not operate. Blackwood also said she wasn’t convinced by the theater’s request that she believed lacked full disclosure.
“What was the defining point for me as far as the no vote is concerned was the preparation and lack thereof,” Blackwood said. “I also expected to have a realistic, thoughtful plan.”
The Metropolis opened in 2000 but struggled as a for-profit theater. By 2005, the village decided to buy a portion of the property with $2 million in tax dollars and began offering an annual operating subsidy to save it. Arlington Heights owns the theater space, part of the lobby, the second-floor classrooms and office space.
From day one, there have been critics who slammed the village for spending taxpayer money on a failing theater. Meanwhile, supporters maintain that the Metropolis is critical to downtown’s vibrancy, which in turn has generated food and beverage taxes for the village.
As a condition of the latest bailout, the theater now must submit its bills for review by the village. Officials said the emergency money is the first step in determining how to keep the theater viable.
Mayor Thomas Hayes said he is now appointing an advisory board made up of two trustees, including Trustee John Scaletta who previously ran the downtown movie theater, and Trustee Bert Rosenberg, the board’s fiscal hawk and an accountant by day.
Two representatives from the Performing Arts at Metropolis nonprofit that operate the theater and the village’s assistant attorney and finance director will also join the advisory committee.
“I think this is a very integral part of our community, and I think we took the right action the other night in ensuring its continued viability in the short term, at least,” the mayor said.
More Top Picks Hot Tub Cover
Theater officials did not comment at the meeting when the request was formally approved, prompting Hayes to comment: “You’re just happy to get the money.”