Clear Space Theatre Company merits applause for its vision of a new performing arts/cultural arts center for coastal Delaware.
This actually is the latest iteration of an idea first proposed in 2002 by a consortium of six local arts organizations that recognized the need for a venue that would include multiple performance spaces as well as large meeting facilities, exhibition areas and, of course, adequate parking.
Although a 501(c)(3) organization, the Southern Delaware Center for the Arts & Humanities, was established to support pursuit of the eastern Sussex County arts venue, nothing came of the idea.
The concept surfaced again in May 2014 when state and local elected officials and representatives of state agencies, foundations, arts organizations and businesses met to discuss how a community arts and culture center could transform the region from primarily an outdoor destination to one with significant revenue-generating opportunities from year-round indoor activities.
During the meeting, Dennis Forney – then with the Cape Gazette – suggested that an arts and culture center co-located with a residential development could be marketed as an attractive amenity. A local developer said that major builders might actually compete to have such a venue within one of their communities and even donate land in exchange for hosting the facility.
Sadly, nothing came from that effort either, perhaps reflecting the reality that small, nonprofit organizations lack the resources to pursue an extremely complex project concurrent with executing their ongoing missions.
Several takeaways from those earlier efforts merit consideration as Clear Space moves forward with its concept for an arts center that, in the words of Managing Director Joe Gfaller, “would be an accessible home for a range of arts institutions in our region looking for improved performance space.”
First, it is important to consider governance of a regional arts center. Is it best for a single organization such as Clear Space to decide who gets to use the venue and, hopefully, profit from its operation? Or is it preferable to have a consortium of potential users or a neutral third party lead the center’s development and ongoing management?
Second, adequate off-street parking is essential for the success of a venue that should be expected to draw from several hundred to a thousand or more visitors at any given time.
Finally, a public-private partnership of the sort envisioned by Joe Gfaller may be the best way to overcome the significant fundraising, project development and management challenges associated with an undertaking of this magnitude.
A community arts and culture center for eastern Sussex is needed even more urgently now than it was more than two decades ago when first conceived by visionaries such as former Lewes Councilwoman Barbara Vaughn and Lewes resident Gary Grunder. I hope the Clear Space initiative will spark a community-wide, collaborative effort to create a facility that will serve the needs of all arts and cultural organizations, engage local residents and visitors alike in transformative experiences, and make a meaningful contribution to the local economy.
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
