In a move that could shake up the local theater community and help revitalize Denver’s Five Points neighborhood — the city’s Division of Theatres and Arenas has signed a three-year contract to manage the financially troubled Crossroads Theater.
The agency, which oversees such facilities as the Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Denver Performing Arts Complex, hopes to stabilize the 105-seat venue at 2590 Washington St. and provide a more active space for small theaters and other community groups.
“We’re really responding to a need that we have heard about over the six years of the Hickenlooper administration, which is that the smaller performing-arts groups struggle to find affordable performance space in the city and county of Denver,” said Jack Finlaw, director of Theatres and Arenas.
But meeting that need may require some creative management. Warren Sherrill, artistic director of the Paragon Theatre company, which presented four productions in Crossroads in 2009 and has been among its chief tenants, is skeptical that the city can turn the space around.
Theatres and Arenas will have to find a way, Sherrill said, to reduce the current daily rental fee of $500, which is prohibitively expensive for small, nonprofit theaters.
“Hopefully, it succeeds,” he said, “but I really do have my doubts.”
On the same day that the city said it would run Crossroads, Paragon announced that it was joining the Kim Robards Dance company and another as-yet-unannounced organization in developing a collaborative performance center at 1385 S. Santa Fe Drive.
Finlaw said the agency knew Paragon would be leaving when it agreed to take over Crossroads, and he is confident the city, with its enhanced resources, can bring the space to viability.
“This is an experiment,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like it. We only have a three-year lease, although we have the opportunity to extend it, so if it’s not successful, we can cut our losses and go on.”
Crossroads, which opened in April 2007, was expected to be a catalyst for a cultural renaissance of the Five Points neighborhood, but owner Kurt Lewis said it was always undercapitalized and never achieved financial viability. Among other debts, he still owes $340,000 to Denver’s Office of Economic Development, which provided loans to open the space.
“It’s the best satisfaction I’ve ever had,” he said of his investment in the venture, “and the worst financial decision I ever made.”
Theatres and Arenas has agreed to pay off $200,000 of Lewis’ debt to the city, taking the money from a $500,000-$1 million surplus in revenues it expects to earn in 2009 from rental and parking fees at its various performance spaces.
The agency expects Crossroads’ annual operating budget — mainly the lease and utilities (the agency will not be providing ushers or stage hands) — to be about $50,000-$60,000. It hopes costs will be partially covered by rent and beverage fees.
Theatres and Arenas has long provided performance spaces for the city’s largest arts organizations, including the Colorado Symphony, Denver Center Theatre Company and Opera Colorado. By taking over Crossroads, it wants to reach out to smaller groups.
To respond to their needs for space, the city had long hoped to develop a 350-seat theater on the fifth floor of the building housing the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. But it has not been able to secure the needed $6 million-$8 million.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
