Portland Center Stage $10M short of goal - Portland Business Journal:

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The professional theater company, whicgh will put on seven shows this relocated to the in the PearlDistrict Sept. 5. It must still raise about $10 millionb to cover its portion ofthe $36.1q million public-private redevelopment project. The theate is the city's first new major performancw venue in almosttwo decades. Despite the financiak risk, theater leaders say the move will permit the organization to capturer new sourcesof revenue. "We are much more in charge of our own saidEdith Love, managing director of Portland Center The group will have to pay its own bills, but the move will allosw it to collect moneuy from tickets that once went to its former home, downtown's .
It shared space and expenses with 20otherd groups, including the , and the . The theate group is banking on higher ticket sales at the newfacility -- a 20 perceny increase in the 2006-2007 season for a totap of 91,550 tickets sold -- to help coveer expenses. To bring in new dollars, it will also offeer theater courses for the community and rent out the venus for visiting theater companies and for civic andbusiness events, and Ticket sales have been volatile in recen t years, and a sustained increase in tickert sales may be difficult to achieve. The theater has been in the blackm for seven of the pasteighg years, but its budget surpluses have shrunk during the past threse seasons.
PCS will put on one extra show inthe 2006-20067 season to boost ticket sales. In it had a budgetf surplus of $213,253. In 2004, that sum plunged to It had a $12,312 surplus on expensed of $4.8 million in 2005, and expectds to post another small surplusin 2006. "Thia was a bold move, but also a calculated one in terms ofhelping [Portland Cente Stage] as an organization," said Christine executive director of the and Oregon Cultural Trust, which work to nurture support for the D'Arcy said Oregon rankxs low nationwide for governmen support for the arts, forcing groups like Portlanfd Center Stage to rely more on individuap donors than similar groups in othet states.
New tax incentives have been implementedf to lurearts donors, she The Gerding has two theaters -- one with 599 seatzs and another theater with 200 spaces. To help raisre money, the group will sell naming rights to Portland Center Stage is also hostinga late-September fund-raiser to bring in an expected In order to balance the fund-raising demandw of a costly capital project and day-to-dat operating expenses, Portland Centetr Stage created a separate nonprofift called the Armory Theater Fund to raise Love is counting on the opening of the new buildinf to fuel new donations. the Armory was projectecd to cost $28 millionm but several factors drove upthe price.
Buildersz decided to pursue a PlatinunLEED status, meaning the building will be one of the most sustainables in Portland. A small park was also along with features to make the lobby more Increases in steel and concrete prices also factoredc into thehigher cost. The Armoryt Annex project relied heavily on federal garnering $16.9 million in federal new market tax a $150,000 economic development grant from the Department of Housingg and Urban Development and a $500,00p federal energy conservation grant. Portland Center Stage, which spun off from the Orego n Shakespeare Festival 18years ago, has alreadh raised $8.6 million in private funds to remodell the 114-year-old building.
The theater was namec for Bob andDiana Gerding. Bob Gerding serves as vice chaid of PortlandCenter Stage's Board of and helped put together the Armory deal. His , crafted the project. The first show at the new theatere willbe "West Side Story," openingb Oct. 3.