Mayor Andy Berke with members of the new Tivoli Theatre Foundation Board
The city is planning to turn the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium over to a non-profit foundation. The Tivoli Theatre Foundation, chaired by Keith Sanford of First Tennessee Bank, held its first meeting on Thursday morning.
Mayor Andy Berke said the move was one of the recommendations of his Chattanooga Forward citizen group.
He said the foundation will be patterned after one in Knoxville. The Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation was founded in 1996 and in 2005, the foundation board led a $28 million fundraising effort to completely restored its historic theatre to its original historic appearance and upgrade the theatre to a modern performing arts venue to accommodate performances of all types and sizes.
Mayor Berke said the city is losing about $750,000 on operating the two entertainment facilities, and there are many "dark nights" at both venues. In contrast, he said Knoxville had events 280 nights last year and brought in $4.3 million in revenue. The local facilities only took in $750,000 and spent twice that amount. The Tivoli and Auditorium only had a 30-percent usage rate.
He said a private group would have much more flexibility than the city government. He said, "They can take risks and chances that the city cannot. They also will be better able to contract with private groups for use of the facilities."
Mayor Berke said the Tivoli, with about 1,700 seats, is similar in size to the historic Knoxville venue. He said there are more challenges for promoters in use of the Memorial Auditorium, with some 3,900 seats.
He said there may be opportunities for partnership with UTC in use of the auditorium. He noted the proximity of its campus.
Mayor Berke said there are still some procedural steps to be taken before the two facilities can be turned over to the foundation.
Board members also include Mai Bell Hurley, Susan Rich, James McKissic, Carlos Smith, Carmen Davis, Bobby Stone, Travis Lytle, Brent Goldberg, Bijan Dhanani, Bruce Hartmann and Mickey McCamish.
The city employees (seven full-time and nine part-time) will continue as city employees at least through the end of June.
Memorial Auditorium was built by the city in the early 1920s to honor the nation's soldiers and sailors.
The city bought the historic Tivoli in 1976 after it had closed under private ownership.
The city has been subsidizing the venues by over $1 million per year, and officials said they are under-utilized.
Officials said, "The new Tivoli Theatre Foundation will lead and manage both the Tivoli Theatre and the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Auditorim, as recommended by Mayor Berke’s Chattanooga Forward task force on Entertainment & Attractions. The goal of the non-profit entity is to ensure the sustainability of both historic buildings while promoting them as vibrant attractions that add to the quality of life in Chattanooga. The city will retain ownership of the buildings and is in the process of drafting an MOU and lease agreement with the Tivoli Theatre Foundation to be finalized next month."
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