Farmington to Dissolve Civic Theater Committee

Later this month, city officials will officially disband and thank a group of volunteers who worked for months on a multifaceted plan to improve the city-owned .

The committee's recommendations, delivered Nov. 10, covered everything from general strategy and marketing to inventory controls, tickets and concessions pricing. City Manager Vince Pastue and theater manager Scott Freeman reviewed the status of those recommendations at a special City Council meeting Monday night.

Pastue said the profitability of the theater's core business has improved significantly since July 1, with increases in ticket and concession sales.

"I think that's where the focus has been since Scott started," Pastue said, noting the theater budget has a surplus of $25,000. A screen replacement of $9,000 and several thousand dollars' worth of carpet and lighting work will reduce that amount, he added.

"We're less than a month away from finishing higher than we were all of last year," Pastue said of ticket sales. The average amount spent on concessions per customer has also risen by about 50 cents, to $2. "Frankly, that's where you make most of your money, is in concessions."

Internally, Freeman has improved employee procedures and has paid particular attention to theater cleanliness and overall appearance. He said he also discovered, while checking out safety and security, that a phone line that connected the theater directly to City Hall wasn't working.

"We ... found where the problem was and got it working," Freeman said. He has addressed a list of issues identified by the city's fire marshal and plans to tighten up security procedures to prevent people from sneaking into the theater.

Progress has also been made on bringing the 1940s-era theater into the 21st century, with an updated computer, credit card processing and a point-of-sale system that will track inventory and more closely monitor sales, Freeman said.

"I think that will be an improvement for us, and we'll be better able to be more accountable with our operation," he said.

A new Facebook page already has 371 users, Freeman said. He is also studying whether it makes sense to continue advertising theater showtimes in newspapers.

While council member Jo Anne McShane said she still looks up showtimes in the paper, council member Valerie Knol believes most people turn to the Internet for that information. "I don't know many people who check papers for movie times," she said.

Pastue said there has been talk of raising the price of children's tickets by $1, to $3.50, the same as general admission. Freeman noted the theater sells very few children's tickets, and the increased price would still be a bargain compared with children's tickets at first-run movie theaters, which typically cost around $5.

While the committee report suggested creating a nonprofit organization to carry the theater into the future, Pastue said the Civic Theater committee felt it was important for Freeman to get his bearings first.

"Once operations are going well, we can take a look at where the nonprofit would fit in," Pastue said.