Page 20 - November 2017 inLEAGUE Resource Guide (Vol. 40, No. 5)

Planning For ongoing

CaPital ExPEnsEs

Preserving Your invesTmenT and PreParing for The fuTure

By: Don Telford, Retired CEO, San Diego Theatres and
Becky Hancock, Executive Director, Historic Tennessee Theatre
Foundation

Programming, Educational Outreach, Community Involvement, Fundraising, Strategic
Planning, Staff Development, and Communications are many of a theatre manager’s
diverse responsibilities. These can be interesting, challenging and rewarding, and recognized
by Boards, owners and other stakeholders as critical and often viewed as “stimulating,
satisfying and/or fun.”

However, an equally critical responsibility that often isn’t quite so exciting are theatre
managers’ extensive responsibilities related to Property/Real Estate Management. The
stewardship of historic buildings and their infrastructure, finishes, furnishings, fixture and
equipment require ongoing planning, mitigation, prevention, preservation, maintenance,
repair and replacement. Without this thoughtful capital planning, the foundation of
our theatres’ effective operations and services for patrons, presenters, performers and
community can easily be jeopardized.
San Diego’s Balboa Theatre

San Diego’s Balboa Theatre
had been closed for over
twenty years when the
City’s Redevelopment
Agency committed to its
renovation and restoration
with a $26.5 million budget.
The agency negotiated a
long-term lease agreement
with the non-profit, 501(c)3
San Diego Theatres to
manage and operate the
theatre upon its reopening
in January 2008. One of the
terms of the agreement
was that the agency would
retain responsibility for the
theatre’s capital repair and

Balboa Theatre - restored audience chamber
continued page 21
PAGE 18 | INLEAGUE League of Historic American Theatres