Photo by Howard Owens
A call was put out Sunday for members of Batavia Players to rally together and attend Monday’s City Council conference session to support Norm Argulsky and Jo Coburn as they spoke on behalf of the nonprofit.
The two members wanted council to know how much the organization means, not only to Batavia Players themselves, but also to area businesses and the community at large, in light of financial troubles and owing the city back rent, Coburn says.
“I just want everyone on council … to see all the other positive things in the community that we do. We do a lot, I don’t think everybody realizes it. We are involved in every bit of it,” Coburn said after the meeting. “We’re just asking for more time to bounce back. We are just getting known on Main Street. It’s not that we don’t want to pay it. We’re limited in the ways we can raise money.”
The Players have paid $160,000 in rent from 2020 to 2023, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater was shut down and they were unable to perform and therefore unable to make money, she said. So they fell behind in rent.
“We’ve been in discussions with the city since November about rent renewal and repairs,” she said. “It came to our attention that maybe not everyone on council has the information about what we do.”
The city had asked Batavia Players for a five-year financial projections plan, and one was submitted without enough detail, Coburn said. Another one is being drafted to include more of what happens at the theater — newly built and celebrated at Batavia City Centre — such as open mic nights, civic organization meetings, education sessions, dance recitals, college productions, stage combat lessons, the recent Hometown Christmas festivities, a scavenger hunt collaborating with other city businesses, Halloween trick-or-treating and tours, and live performances.
About eight members of the Players, including their attorney Ted Graney, showed up to the council meeting. “We just want the city to know how deep the support goes,” Coburn said.
She understands the city’s position, and officials have been patient and supportive, she said. She hopes that they will “please continue so that we can be the flagship live performance” venue for downtown. She doesn’t want it to get contentious and hopes that both sides can work something out, including leaks that have erupted from the green room ceiling.
Batavia Players will be celebrating a 100-year existence in 2032, Argulsky said, and Batavia is "very, very luck to have a group" like it that performs 12 productions a year and brings a "cultural-plus" to the city.
The Players can only raise so much money and sell so many tickets, though, he said, and it's quite an expensive endeavor to operate a theater, and he wanted city leaders to keep that in mind. He and his fellow troupe members hope a friendly solution can be found. They are having a fundraiser specifically to raise $25,000 for the back rent through donations and sponsorships.
City Manager Rachael Tabelski said that the theater owes approximately $27,000 in back rent. The Batavian asked what the city's next steps would be, and if it would take legal action against the organization.
“We are awaiting an executive summary and five-year financial projections of the Players' plan moving forward,” she said.
City Council members said they have nothing against the theater, but that there are expenses involved in operating City Centre and unpaid bills fall on taxpayers to cover.
