Madison common council member Mark Clear is offering a new proposal that requires private ownership of the Overture arts facility, unlike the original Focus Model that requires city ownership. That is a bold and favorable step in the right direction for the short term, but it does not provide a long term solution.
Clear's recommended proposal should be viewed as an interim solution.
Clear's proposal also calls for privatization of the work force. That needs to be changed. For the next two two years, despite the serious problems of having a work force employed by the city and directed by 201 State, the non-profit operator, the workers should remain public employees. That is because we do not know the final arrangement for Overture in 2012.
Clear's proposal would be amended to call for the appointment of a Madison Commission on Overture.
That commission is an independent body with representation from the city government, 201 State Street, prospective donor, resident companies, members of the arts community with no association with Overture, and interested citizens with no allegiance to any specific arts organization or Overture.
That body should conduct three studies. First an examination of the potential for long term private giving that will lead to a building endowment fund, secondly an independent examination of the building and its financial, and thirdly an inventory of Madison's artistic needs.
The artists and their audiences are the base of any operating model for Overture
It is this last point that is most critical and it should have been the focus in 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2010.
I personally want to apologize to Madison's artists, the performers, and the audiences. Those of us who served on the Ad Hoc Overture Committee had little time to hear from you. We were presented with the AMS study and the constraints upon us required that we look at the financial and the building itself. Maybe this time we can get it right.
As a community we must look at our needs as artists and their audiences and then we will know the best structure for the operation of Overture.
When the study is completed, I do not know if the recommendation will be public ownership, my original preference, or private ownership.
When the study is completed, I do not know if the recommendation will be public management, my original preference, management as envisioned by 201 State, which I find unacceptable, or management by another non-profit more responsive and representative of the community, an acceptable alternative.
When the study is completed we will have a better knowledge of the staffing needs and which employees should be public and private.
In any case, we will make better decisions with better results because of a better process.
Mortenson Report Gives Reason for Optimism
In the meantime the first of several new reports is available.
This independent report on Madison's Overture Center for the Arts indicates that the facility is in fairly good shape. There are several areas of concern that need further explanation:
- The report is optimistic about the tile floor which suffered from from red wine spills to high heels cracking and puncturing the surface. The report suggests that the sealant is working and that the floor should survive for another 15 years. In several of my visits to Overture on the days following performances of Wicked I spotted fresh punctures in the tile floor. I am curious as to how many punctures like this the floor can withstand and how the sealant helps to prevent them.
- There is no mention of the 700 different lamps in the facility, that many are energy inefficient, and that the German manufacturer of some of them indicated they will discontinue their production. Does the absence of a discussion on this subject mean that Mortenson feels that the subsequent refurbishing costs are insignificant?
- If the lamp issue is significant, are there additonal design areas of concern not covered in the report?
- The capital budget is analyzed for 15 years. My experience is that capital budget analysis is usually 20 years , or at least multiples of 10. I am wrong? Sorry if I am.
- Besides the lighting issue, are there other costs associated with bringing the facility up to city energy efficiency standards?
The story was first reported by yesterday in The Capital Times by Kristin Czubkowski in her Laptop City Hall column, Council working on model for private Overture Center,and subsequently in the Wisconsin State Journal by Deam Moisman, In a major change, officals will consider private ownership of Overture.