WHITEHALL — The city-appointed White Lake Playhouse sustainability committee met for the first time Thursday afternoon to discuss ways to address the Playhouse's current financial issues. The committee also set a second meeting for Thursday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. at the Playhouse.
As of November 2024, the Playhouse had a negative cash balance for the fiscal year that exceeded $76,000. The Whitehall city council decided that month to form a sustainability committee, following a request from the Playhouse for a $100,000 loan from the city that was not granted. The committee's composition was finalized in December.
The meeting included Whitehall mayor Steven Salter, city manager Scott Huebler, city council member Tom Ziemer, deputy clerk Brook Schiller and several local business owners. Multiple business owners who were appointed to the committee were unable to be present at the meeting.
Much of the meeting revolved around collecting ideas for additional events the Playhouse could host to bring in more money, though a lengthy public comment period also reignited the debate among some area residents whether the city should own or help subsidize the Playhouse at all. Salter, for his part, stated at the end of the meeting that although he believes it's unlikely the Playhouse will ever be fully self-sufficient, he was proud to support it with his own contributions and through voting in favor of the city's helping to subsidize it. Huebler said that based on financial figures over the past 10 years, he estimated about $35,000 of city money would be needed annually to even the Playhouse's books. He also noted that while the city's ownership of the Playhouse was unusual, it was not unheard of for smaller cities like Whitehall; he cited Muskegon County partially subsidizing the county airport in Norton Shores as a similar arrangement.
Some public commenters agreed with Salter's outspoken support of the Playhouse, and others spoke against city subsidization, like council member Scott Brown, who noted he wanted to be on the committee but was not nominated by Salter. He stated his belief that the committee being solely composed of enthusiastic supporters of the Playhouse made it unable to be objective about the issues facing it. While Brown added that he has no ill will toward the Playhouse, he is skeptical there's enough support in the area to keep it running 12 months a year.
Playhouse manager Beth Beaman said during committee discussion that its current financial issues are not a surprise to her. According to Beaman, the Playhouse's current predicament is the result of a confluence of factors, including a downturn in donations and sponsorships (a 2016 capital campaign to fund Playhouse renovations produced heavy donations up front that have since declined) and inflation. Huebler added that in recent years, grant applications have grown much more competitive, making it difficult for the Playhouse to bring in as many awards from outside the area as it once did. In addition, the fact that the city owns the Playhouse limits how many grants it is eligible to apply for.
The Friends of the White Lake Playhouse, which originally formed as a volunteer group to help the Playhouse with odd jobs but soon morphed into a fundraising organization, have long helped. In the long term, Beaman said, the group hopes to raise enough money to create an endowment, which would bring in regular money via interest to help keep things steady. Such a solution, though, appears some time off.
The committee considered several concepts of how to bring more revenue to the Playhouse, such as themed events - a Taylor Swift-themed event was an example discussed. All seemed to be in agreement that the Playhouse's Sip n' Savor series, the second event of which will take place Saturday, Feb. 22, was a good example of an idea that could generate revenue. Another suggestion was hiring popular bands from the annual summer Walk the Beat festival for concerts. Better publicizing of events was discussed, with Salter stating he finds the Playhouse's website difficult to navigate and that its chief focus should be on making sure area people know about events taking place there.
There was some discussion about utilizing Howmet as a fundraiser; the company was once one of the Playhouse's biggest financial supporters, but Huebler said it has spent recent years largely focusing its charitable giving on STEM fields. However, he said there has been some turnover there recently and the Playhouse could approach Howmet again with fundraising ideas.
A couple of public comments in support of the Playhouse noted the lack of manpower at the building that makes it difficult to pursue fundraising. At the moment, Beaman is the only full-time Playhouse employee, with Cindy Beth Davis-Dykema working part-time. Commenters stated that hiring an employee to be responsible for pursuing grant opportunities would enable Beaman and Davis-Dykema, who are both part of that task now, to handle other tasks. Another commenter asked about utilziing TIFA or LDFA funds for the Playhouse, but the committee replied that the Playhouse is in neither district. However, the LDFA has provided some marketing support in the past.
The committee will explore more concrete short-term ideas at its Feb. 27 meeting. Beaman thanked community members for coming to the meeting, and several members of the committee expressed excitement for the possibility of being able to help.
