Council Gives $350,000 to Troubled Theatre Centre

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to give another $350,000 to the financially troubled Los Angeles Theatre Centre, but asked for a five-year plan detailing the theater’s economic outlook.

Several council members had expressed increasing concern over the amount of money spent on the center--more than $19 million over the last several years. Nevertheless, they voted to approve the latest grant after receiving reports that showed dramatic improvements in the center’s financial management.

The $350,000 will come from the budget of Community Redevelopment Agency, which partially funds the theater as part of its effort to revitalize the central business district. The CRA agreed last June to seek council approval for the expenditure if the theater reduced its debt from $1.04 million to $500,000 by the end of 1989. A successful fund-raising drive last December, as well as cost-saving and other measures, brought the debt down to $494,000.

E. Kent Damon Jr., president of the center’s board of directors, said the vote indicated “strong support on the council.”

“I think there was a full airing of our financial position,” Damon said, adding: “We’ve been on a strong growth track in terms of our finances in the last two years.”

Despite his vote for the center, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky voiced strong objections to spending additional city money. Yaroslavsky agreed to support the proposal only after asking the theater to provide future financial data.

“This is not about whether you’re for the arts or not,” Yaroslavsky said. “What this is about, however, is an incredible amount of expenditure.” A total of $1.8 million in CRA money will be spent on the theater in the current fiscal year alone, Yaroslavsky said.