By Jason A. McFarley, Truth Staff
jmcfarley@etruth.com
ELKHART -- Michael Santoro dislikes the possibility that budget cuts may force the city to bill residents for trash collection and curbside recycling next year.
He frowns on the idea even more because the city is making room in the 2009 budget for expenses Santoro says are unnecessary in these tight fiscal times.
"I don't use the railroad museum, I don't use the Elco (Theatre)," he says one morning this week, placing a trash can at the curb outside his Joyce Court home. "What's more important: Providing services that citizens really need or fixing up an old theater?"
As city officials continue trimming costs to ease what they expect to be a nearly $6 million deficit over the next two years, they also are preparing to invest more than $10 million in renovation of the Main Street theater -- a makeover they expect to be the linchpin in their plans for downtown revitalization.
Mayor Dick Moore says it is worth the sacrifice.
"I don't look at the Elco as an extra. I think it's a basic part of our life," he says. "I think we have to have some of that entertainment, and that's why I have eagerly supported its renovation."
The city is borrowing $10.5 million for the project. The money will be repaid with property taxes. The project is not expected to increase taxes because the city is restructuring some other debts.
Ellie Billey, the Elco's manager, says the renovation plans and a new children's theater program are bringing hundreds of people through the door week after week.
A production of "High School Musical" ended last week, "Suessical the Musical" is scheduled this weekend and the musical "Quilters" is slated for next week.
"Theaters, we know, are not moneymakers, but they are a quality-of-life issue," Billey says. "The city dollars that the Elco receives tend to be an investment in the community."
And increasingly, the community is investing in the theater, Billey says. Ticket sales are higher than they were a year ago; attendance is up; young actors are clamoring to audition for parts in the children's shows. Billey mentions one family that moved from Granger to Elkhart so they could live closer to the theater, where their kids are frequent performers.
"The numbers are incredible," she says. "People are donating to us because they want the programs and they want the renovations."
Improvements, which could begin early next year, call for expanding the Elco lobby, reducing the seating capacity to about 1,500 and creating a 6,000-square-foot facility for event rental.
Supporters of the project say renting the space for wedding receptions, business meetings and other events could be a lucrative prospect.
Like Moore and others, City Councilman Dave Osborne envisions that the renovated theater -- which will revert back to its original name of Lerner -- will draw residents and visitors to the downtown area. Yet he sees other opportunities for development as well, particularly the vacant City Centre site behind the Civic Plaza.
The land had been targeted for a mixed-use development with a hotel, condominiums and retail stores; but Moore has proposed making it a central park to complement the nearby Indiana University Elkhart campus.
"I still want to push for some kind of development there," says Osborne, D-1st. "I think the Elco is going to be a tremendous shot in the arm for downtown, but I don't see it as being the cure-all. And with budget constraints, we shouldn't put money into a park right now."
Moore, who is compiling his first budget as mayor, says he is trying to strike a balance between providing for residents' most basic needs and some luxuries that make living here enjoyable.
"We're a city of 52,000 people. I don't think it's bad we have an airport, a golf course and a theater," he says. "All of those things can help us grow."
But they are also among the assets that Moore says he may be willing to explore privatizing in the near future to cut costs further. The mayor expects to ask the City Council to continue fully funding operations such as Ideal Beach, Tolson Center and Oak Hills Golf Course in 2009, he says, but the city may consider turning the facilities over to private management in 2010 if that's what the financial circumstances dictate.
"I want to give them another year and then see whether they might be better run by someone other than the city," Moore says.
He has not indicated an interest in selling any city assets outright, only in leasing them to third-party operators.
"It's a matter right now of changing our thinking and finding ways to provide for the future," the mayor says.
Looking back, he says the Elco project probably got the state approval it needed in the nick of time last year. He speculated that the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance would reject it if his administration had sought permission now.
Osborne agrees.
"The thing with the Elco is, maybe given the budget constraints, it wasn't the best thing to move forward on," the councilman says. "But it was initiated under a previous administration, and there seems to be a lot of local financial support for it. It's going to be a great draw to downtown, but we need more."