Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Maxwell King said his first priority will be establishing a long-term building management contract with the Cultural Trust because of their expertise in successfully operating arts and entertainment venues.
“During this transitional period, we will work with a range of groups and individuals, locally and nationally to develop the best possible management practices and highest-quality programming,” said King.
To find the proper balance between revenue and programming the Trust will work closely with the August Wilson Center Recovery Committee, which is comprised of members of the African-American arts community under the direction of Kelly Strayhorn Executive Director Janera Solomon.
Naturally she would like to kick off the Center’s reopening in a grand way, but she realizes she has to move cautiously.
“The challenge is maintaining the balance between programming and rentals,” she said. “We want to avoid the mistakes of the past.”
Overall, said King, the new management will be dedicated to transparency. This will include releasing quarterly reports on planning efforts and programming initiatives, and financial summaries. All will be posted on the Pittsburgh Foundation website.
Some of the future planning efforts could involve developing the air rights above the center to generate revenue. Kevin Acklin, Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority chair and chief of staff to Mayor Bill Peduto said he plans to discuss that option with the governance board.
New York developers, Liberty Partners had planned to do that with a hotel, but were sued by the URA and the city, eventually dropping their $9.5 million bid for the center, which allowed the foundations group to buy it from Dollar Bank at a November sheriff’s sale.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
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