WHITEHALL — The Playhouse of White Lake sustainability committee unanimously approved its set of recommendations for helping the historic facility become self-sustaining Monday at its meeting.
The recommendations could be approved by the city council as soon as its April 8 meeting. They include changes to pricing and scheduling that would be made by the staff, operational changes to be made by management, and a potential contract with the city.
If the city council approves it, the contract with the city would call for coverage of the facility's maintenance for up to $50,000 each of the next five years. The city currently projects the Playhouse for a $44,612 deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30, an improvement from the over double that amount that was projected several months ago.
The $50,000 could come through support from the Local Development Finance Authority, Tax Increment Finance Authority, marijuana tax proceeds (the Playhouse already receives a portion of these, which could be increased) and/or the general fund.
The committee did not recommend an increase in staff; its only recommendation that would directly cost money was hiring a cleaning crew rather than relying on existing staff to do that work. While not arguing the point, manager Beth Beaman, a committee member, did say that it was hard for her to envision a dramatic financial improvement with her as the only full-time employee (Cindy Beth Davis-Dykema works there part-time). She offered that her most recent time sheet logged 97 work hours over the last two weeks despite her taking a full day and another half-day off in that span.
"There's no more me to go around," Beaman said. "There's nothing more I can do. I'm one person. I just have to be honest about that. I don't see it getting any better without (more) staff."
Recommendations made for operations included an increased emphasis on the Playhouse as a community center. An ambitious goal is for the Playhouse to be in use - or preparing to be in use - for events 180 days of the year, which could include weddings, corporate meetings, celebrations of life, dinner fundraisers and more, in addition to plays, concerts and other performing arts. The committee appeared in agreement that this emphasis on a wider range of events could introduce the Playhouse's offerings to those who may not be inclined to visit for a performance.
The committee is also recommending the Playhouse close each January and February to save money on utilities unless an event during that time could deliver an especially strong financial boost. Relatedly, the committee also recommended the enabling of automatic and remote adjustments for thermostats in the theater to limit utility use. Another recommendation is the implementation of a 50/50 raffle that would have a goal of $20,000 in ticket sales, giving the Playhouse a $10,000 infusion.
Recommendations for staff that would be placed in the 2025-26 fiscal year budget include several price increases the committee discussed in previous meetings, including a slight bump in the price of tickets (a $3 increase), wine sales (a $3 increase per glass) and facility rental charges (currently $850 per day, proposed $1,600 with lower rates for use of smaller areas). The committee also proposed the annual Friends of the Playhouse gala, which this year charged $30 per ticket, a more expensive affair at $150 per ticket, with a goal of 100 attendees. Mayor Steven Salter said the increase would be reasonable, as the ticket prices would functionally be donations to the Playhouse and those who attend that gala would be Playhouse supporters already. When asked, Frank Bendarek of The Friends of the Playhouse said the most recent Friends kickoff event raised $14,000.
Bednarek said the Friends would assist the Playhouse with several of the recommendations, such as increasing sponsorship dollars; the committee specifically hopes to secure a $25,000 sponsorship for the White Lake Youth Theater program.
The committee occasionally challenged one another; Ryan Briegel, owner of Pitkin and a committee member, said he supports the Playhouse, but played "devil's advocate" and said if presented the $50,000 recommendation would likely reply to cut the budget. However, several expressed their approval of the discussions in all and, as evidenced by the unanimous approval, felt the recommendations were reasonable.
For his part, Bednarek said he is optimistic the $50,000 support recommendation could be raised and not needed from the city - he'd previously stated an endowment push would have to wait years for the previous capital campaign's donations to be realized, but has since learned that will occur next year - but the city agreeing to budget for it would create a "survival plan" if outside circumstances prevent that from happening. If an endowment campaign were successful enough to raise in the seven figures - a process Bednarek noted in a previous meeting would take some time to complete - it could provide the Playhouse with enough money annually to make a city contribution minimal, if necessary at all.
