CL Real Estate Development is looking to terminate its lease of the Dawn Theater management. Courtesy | Facebook

CL Real Estate is relinquishing control, and the Dawn’s nonprofit will accept bids

The Dawn Theater is searching for new management, following a request by CL Real Estate Development to back out of its current management agreement.

In a meeting Feb. 27, the Dawn Theater Governance Board said it is negotiating with the management group and preparing a request for proposals for incoming management bids.

The Keefer House Hotel LLC, a branch of CLRED, has rented and managed the Dawn Theater since 2022 when the group signed a 10-year contract with the city’s Tax Increment Financing Authority board, which works with local businesses and management to promote the city’s economic development.

The Dawn Theater Governance Board, a four-member subcommittee of TIFA’s Targeted Development Committee, said in the meeting it is still negotiating with CLRED to terminate the Dawn Theater’s lease, but has begun the conversation concerning what the theater’s new management structure will look like.

“CLRED legitimately wants out, but they also don’t want to leave the city in the lurch,” Dawn Theater Governance Board Chair and Professor of Theater James Brandon told The Collegian.

The council discussed potential structures of the new management, including whether TIFA should hire a manager rather than allowing a lessee to operate the theater, but TIFA Chairman Andrew Gelzer said he is hesitant to incorporate this style of management for the sake of both TIFA and the theater. Instead, Gelzer said it is important for the board to strike a balance between public and private management, similar to the theater’s current management style.

“The trick is crafting whatever agreement we have with any potential operator in a way that it’s not a detriment to the private side of the business,” Gelzer said in the meeting. “To me, that’s the prime requirement: having the community aspect of this theater go forward without it being detrimental.”

Former Dawn Theater General Manager and CLRED Communities Manager Gianna Green ’17 said at the meeting she had been involved with operations leading up to the Dawn’s reopening in 2021. She expressed concern over a new management structure that would include public and private entities.

“The reality is that community members are more naturally inclined to attend events that directly benefit the theater rather than the ones that are operated by a private business,” Green said. “One potential solution would be for the public facing side to manage the concerts and entertainment while the private side handles weddings and parties. However, this arrangement places an unfair income limitation on its private enterprise.”

Friends of the Dawn Theater Chair Mary Wolfram said the nonprofit, created in 2017 by TIFA’s Targeted Development Committee, exists for the benefit of the theater. Wolfram advocated for keeping the group involved in the Dawn’s management structure.

“My concern is you’re trying to cut the Friends out,” Wolfram told the TIFA board. “It’s not a good idea. It’s not a good idea for the Dawn for a lot of reasons.”

Wolfram said the initial business plan for the Dawn Theater’s grant outlined that the space was to be used as a community center, operating as a dual public private event center. Wolfram, who was involved in creating the original plan, said she looked at other event centers in the area to see how they were structured before creating a plan for the Dawn. 

“There is no way in this world that the Friends of the Dawn Theater have kept any manager from making money,” Wolfram said. “The Friends are the nonprofit involved. They don‘t call them nonprofits for nothing. You can’t make money on bringing events like the Friends bring to the theater.”

Brandon said in the meeting he sees the value in keeping the Friends involved in the management of the theater. 

“On the public side of this, I also see that the Friends have a vested interest in making investments into the space a private entity does not want to eat the cost of,” Brandon said. “No private entity wants to come in and say, ‘Oh yes, we need to spend $200,000 on projector screens.’ They don’t want to do that. They’re not going to see the long term return of that investment. As a community, we can’t have a better advocate in this space than the Friends of the Dawn Theater.”

Acting Mayor Joshua Paladino said, while having the Friends of the Dawn manage the theater could make sense given the community events hosted in the space, the theater will need to make money somehow, which comes primarily from hosting private events.

“The concern of having an organization like the Friends of the Dawn run it is that TIFA won’t make any money on the lease,” Paladino said. “They’ll probably lease it to them at cost. And I think TIFA wants to make some money back out of the Dawn. They put a lot of time and resources into it, so they would like to make a little income.”

Brandon said the Dawn Theater will benefit from having new management, regardless of its arrangement.

“The current management structure is clueless as to how to run a theater,” Brandon said in the meeting. 

“I don’t think we could do worse than what we have right now.”

Hotel Investment Services, a hotel and restaurant management company, is contracted by CLRED to assist in managing both the Dawn Theater and the Keefer House Hotel, according to HIS Chief Operating Officer Brian Barton.

He said HIS will have no role in selecting new management for the Dawn Theater, since the group is not the lessee of the building, and will be focused on advising those who are making the decision.

“Our team will work with CLRED to ensure a smooth transition in operations at The Dawn,” Barton said. “CLRED remains committed to completing the Keefer House Hotel’s renovation and ensuring a successful opening. Given this priority, both CLRED and HIS are fully focused on opening the Keefer and planning for its long-term management.”

CLRED declined to comment at this time.

Brandon said there are several groups, including local entities, interested in operating the Dawn, but the council has yet to release applications for its request for proposal.

“There will be multiple entities vying for the opportunity to manage the Dawn, and that’s a great thing, because that means they think they can make it work,” Brandon told The Collegian.

The committee will meet again March 7 and will establish guidelines for requests for proposal applications.

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