It is said when there is a disagreement over a decision to be made, the bottom line usually comes down to money. The clamor heard over the future of the Rollins Theater is proving that point. It will cost between $2.5 million and $3 million, and take two years, to build a theater that would be comfortable for its patrons, have restrooms in the theater itself, and serve the community well.
At the Sun City Center Community Association’s board of directors meeting last week, the directors decided only residents of the Sun City Center community proper would be allowed entry to the meeting. Membership cards were checked at the door.
Those volunteers of the SCC Performing Arts Club living outside the community; a whole contingency of patrons who support the Performing Arts Company, but who live outside the community; interested residents of south Hillsborough County who live outside the community; and the media — all were denied entry.
The agenda had only two items.
The first up for vote by board directors came down to SCC club board membership. What percentage of each club’s board could live off the Sun City Center community grid. It was decided only one-third of board members could live outside the SCC community.
The second agenda item would decide whether Rollins Theater might be allowed a referendum vote in December so the community could have its say. Did they want to rebuild the Rollins Theater now to meet the demands of a burgeoning patronage and its mounting success — or did they want to wait from seven to 10 years, while they saved the money to do so? Building now would require the help of a lender from an accredited financial institution.
The right to have a referendum vote in December passed 8-1, with only SCCCA board director Mike Killian voting against the referendum.
During the meeting, the 200 people in attendance were described as passionate about their opinions. Rollins Theater has been the subject of much unrest in the community as the issues surrounding funding the theater have grown.
“It is always the people showing up who are the ones that are going to say no,” Lew Resseguie, Performing Arts Club of Sun City Center founder, said days after the meeting. “There has to be an education process done. The ‘nos’ are always louder than from those who are positive thinkers.”
According to Resseguie, the Community Association allows clubs in the community access to buildings there without charge.
The Community Association owns the Rollins Theater building. There is no lease, but the Performing Arts Club is into its second renewal of five years each, and the Club takes care of all the expenses, maintenance and repairs of the Rollins Theater, as well as maintaining full control over who can use the theater. The largest entertainment group using the theater is the Performing Arts Company, but money is also made by other performers, such as the Front Porch Pickers. Everything is handled by unpaid volunteers, though their expenses, while working, are paid. The club is now a 501(c)(3), a not-for-profit organization.
There are mixed opinions on how to proceed, depending on whether you ask a board director or a community resident. One idea that has been considered is a pay-as-you-go program where the theater’s monthly revenue stream would be saved for a matter of years until the money to build is made. Another idea is to use that revenue stream to get funding by a lender.
In general, there seems to be a misconceived notion that funding the project will come out of the SCC residents’ pockets, or Community Association funds, according to Chuck Collett, SCCCA board director. Collett thinks that educating the community about the funding solutions will allow people to feel more comfortable when it comes to spending the monies necessary to build Rollins Theater now.
At the meeting, Collett said that a member, Art Smith, had taken the time to look at the proposal.
“He (Smith) really understood the proposal,” Collett said. “It’s not really a loan.”
Collett was the chair of a Sun City Center subcommittee charged with finding funding sources for Rollins Theater in April 2013. He said the information was available for the board of directors, so the community could be advised that year. Alerting the community at that time never took place.
Now it appears that the board wants to make slight modifications to the original contract presented by the lender, which is a major financial establishment, as well as look at one or two other lenders, Collett says.
“There’s a proposal, and I want to get it out to the community,” Collett explains. “The real key is the fact that people need to understand there is no risk to residents of Sun City Center. Our attorneys have told us this.”
Collett says it is a matter of understanding all the facts. The financial models the board has examined will save seven to 10 years and half a million dollars. Basically, a vendor is willing to enter an agreement where there will be no mortgage, no dues and no assessments made, he says. It is not a loan, Collett stresses, and does not impact any residents in the community in a negative way.
“The contract is straight-forward,” Collett explains. “They are buying our revenue stream on a discounted basis. They will advance money against the capital fund fees. They are going to sign a contract saying we agree to pay the capital fund fees out of an account. The lender will take out money for whatever term we agree on.”
The capital fund fees are what used to be called transfer fees that Sun City Center receives every time a home resells in the community. Every new buyer has to pay $1,500 if they buy a home already built in the SCC community. Collett says for the past four years, the average number of resales was 400 homes. Doing the math, 400 times $1,500 means that the capital fund fees collected for one year on average is $600,000.
In 2012, there were 385 resales. And in 2013, there were 474 resales. Already this year, Collett says, there have been 200 resales.
Another requirement the lender asks, Collett says, is for one year’s payment deposited for a cash reserve. A bank account would be set up, and the lender would deduct monies from the account, which will be a pre-arranged amount. For an extra one percent in interest, that amount would be locked in for the duration of the contract. The cash reserve could be used anytime there was a shortfall.
“They will take back what they advanced us,” Collett says, “but leaving the cash reserve. If you think about it, it’s no different than a pay-as-you-go plan.”
Collett says if they save the $3 million necessary to build Rollins Theater, every year the cost on the building will go up and defeat their original purpose.
However, SCCCA secretary/board director David Floyd is not quite so optimistic about the lender Collett is recommending. He says the board has some concerns and has asked that vendor to write another proposal. He said the board is also looking at one or two other vendors before they present their selection to the community at large through additional town hall meetings and the media before the community will vote on the referendum Dec. 3 and 4, 2014.
Floyd says they plan to inform the community months before they schedule a vote on whether Rollins Theater will be funded, or not.
“If we do go forward,” Floyd also warned, “It would prevent us from doing anything else in construction in the community for 10 years. It is a big decision for the community.”
“We have been approached by some members and some BOD [board of directors] members to build a new theater,” said Jane Keegan, SCCCA president. “On a pay-as-you-go basis, this would put the project years into the future.”
“Thus, these folks are promoting that the Community Association initiate a loan to accelerate this single project. The cost estimate and loan are about $3,500,000. The BOD on Wednesday authorized a referendum on this issue. The voting will take place — by members only — concurrently with the annual vote on December 3 and 4 of this year. The BOD picked this date to better accommodate year-round and ‘snow bird’ residents. Between now and December, a ‘Coffee and Conversation’ meeting and a Town Hall meeting will be held to bring out all of the facts and issues. We will also publish articles in the NEWS of SCC.”
There is no doubt the community inside and outside Sun City Center is enjoying the venue. Resseguie says the Performing Arts Company has two major productions and four smaller ones at Rollins Theater annually, and all productions are sold out, in spite of the limitations of the “theater,” which is a small room with a stage and no restrooms inside its premises. Besides PAC, other entertainers are using the facility as well.
“It’s a little gem of a theater,” Resseguie said. “We keep selling out performances and now we have a new opportunity to build a new theater.”
According to Resseguie, PAC productions can run from $8,000 to $9,000 each to put on. The production overhead, with the maintenance of the building and maintenance on the production sets, is financed by the capital fund fees and ticket sales. People in the community helped out when the Performing Arts Club raised $150,000 for much-needed renovations to the theater building.
“A lady that came to see the shows donated $30,000,” Resseguie said. “The Interfaith Council of Sun City Center donated $16,000; Community Foundation of Greater Sun City Center donated $50,000; and the rest came from ticket sales.”
“A new theater would be a real benefit to the community in a multitude of ways,” Collett said.
“Having a theater in the heart of Sun City Center will bring a whole new life and vitality to the community,” Ellen Kleinschmidt, Performing Arts Club of Sun City Center president, said. “Right in their community, residents will have opportunities that many big cities lack — theater, music, dance — all affordable and easily accessible to all. I encourage all Sun City Center residents to learn everything they can so that they will be knowledgable when the residents of Sun City Center have the marvelous opportunity to vote for a new community theater,” she said.
