The Ritz Commission met on Monday for its third meeting since being appointed earlier this year. Though the commission discussed several key issues, the biggest issue on the table concerned it agreeing to a contract for rental of the facility.
"This contract can only be drawn up between the commission and the renter. That means that the city might have a copy of it, but the city cannot authorize use of the Ritz. This will be public, we will make it public…David (Lyttle) will have a copy of it," Ritz Commission chairman L.C. Hartsfield said.
The commission was also faced with a decision on how to proceed with the Arts Council of Mississippi County's usage of the Ritz. At the commission's last meeting, the commission instructed the Arts Council to present them with an agreement that they felt was fair concerning the usage of the building. Arts Council president J.D. Harris, who sits on the Ritz Commission as well, spoke on behalf of the Arts Council for this matter.
"What we came up with was if the commission wants to have the Arts Council somewhat managing the facility and having its shows, community theatre, and things like that…it would be for anything the community theatre does, 10 percent of the door goes to the Ritz Commission…Haunted Theatre is something that has been a tradition for about 11 years now for the month of October. It is set up for about two weeks, you run people through the theater. That would be a 50-50 split between the Arts Council and the Ritz Commissions and then any fundraisers that the Arts Council does, 10 percent of that goes to the Ritz Commission," Harris said.
In return, the commission would allow the Arts Council to operate its shows in the Ritz without paying any form of rent for the facility.
"When it came time to do your series and we asked you to sign a contract what reaction would we get? Would you say, ‘Well, we are giving you all of this?'" Hartsfield asked.
"That was the thought process behind it," Harris responded.
Commissioner Abby Houseworth asked how much profit was made on community theatre shows in the past if the commission was going to potentially receive 10 percent of the door sales.
Harris responded that most community theatre shows are in the negative and that the children's show might make around $500. He also added that the Haunted Theatre usually bring in around $2,000.
"But basically the others are kind of a wash, pretty much," Houseworth said.
Harris responded, "Yeah, our attitude has always been we want to provide good entertainment."
Commissioner Katie Thomason said that one of her concerns was considering other groups that wanted to use the Ritz more than a few times a year like the Arts Council. She said that the deal that was presented is basically the commission allowing the Arts Council to use the Ritz multiple times a year for $1,000.
"That's with working rentals and, so you are talking labor charges…I mean it doesn't have to take place. It is something that the original agreement when the Ritz was taken over by the city was to have entertainment for the community and that is what the Arts Council has done for all these years. So if the city takes it on the Arts Council will obviously exist, but we will just find other venues," Harris said.
Though the commission discussed the possibility of looking over the agreement and making a decision at next month's meeting, the commission eventually decided that they should make a decision concerning the Arts Council instead of putting it off.
"We are going to have to make a decision and every time we come we get to this same spot and nobody wants to make a decision…we are here to make a decision and at the end of the day…yes, it is difficult, but we need to do something because right now with us being indecisive that is not why they put us here," commissioner Marlana Hughes stated.
A motion was made by Thomason to treat all potential renters of the Ritz with the same contract. The motion passed with a five to two split with Harris and commissioner Amy Louise Gullic voting against.
"And basically what we are saying now, the way I understand it, and you can correct me if I'm wrong,…is that the Arts Council has no responsibility of management of this building except for their next two series. Is that what we are saying?" Hartsfield asked.
Harris responded that he also requested that the Tenaris program and the BPS program be managed by the Arts Council.
"The other ones, I'm not concerned with; just those two," Harris reiterated
Hartsfield also said that since David Lyttle had become a city employee instead of an employee of the Arts Council, the city, and by extension Lyttle and the commission needed to have control of all keys to the building. The decision was eventually made to have the locks of the building changed, giving one key to Lyttle and having one remain at the city office for emergencies.
Marcos Sierra of Sierra Group and Associates reported to the commission concerning an assessment he performed on the building's roof, specifically concerning the repairs needed to fix the structure. Sierra said that it was not so much a problem with the roof that was causing the leaks in the building, but with the parapet walls on the building's sides with the Diane's building and Baptist Association building. Sierra summarized that though he had submitted a bid for the roof repair, it did not include repair to the parapet walls because in order to fix the problems with the Ritz, changes would also have to be made to the two parallel structures, which would require permission from their owners.
"There is a whole lot more issues than just the roof itself. We have so many penetrations of water coming in from both parapet walls…that is the issue of why you have water coming in from both sides," Sierra said.
The commission noted that they would need to receive at least one more bid on the roof work before presenting the bids to the city council.
The commission also discussed the future of the concession stand within the Ritz and the products that would be offered in the stand. They also planned to have a concession stand up and running offering bottled soft drinks, water and candy at this Saturday's Dancing for the Cure event.
Possible fundraising events for the future were discussed. Ideas ranged from hosting a dinner on stage at the Ritz to hosting an art show in the facility though nothing was set officially at this time.