The city repeated a thinly-veiled threat today:
“The city will host Broadway shows. We'd prefer it to be with RBTL, but whatever happens, the city will host Broadway Shows.”
That’s an email that spokesman Gary Walker sent me in response to questions about
Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack making a pitch for a new performing arts center.
“We are pursuing options to keep theater in the city and our first choice is to work with RBTL,” he said. “But they are a private firm and can go where they please. We can't control what they do, but we have a great deal to say about what will occur in the city and Broadway shows will occur in the City.”
Walker said the city has met with SMG, the folks who run Blue Cross Arena, and will meet soon with Albert Nocciolino, the man who produces shows for RBTL.
“It’s not quite as simple as they think,” said RBTL chairman Arnold Rothschild. “There’s only one venue in the city where Broadway shows can perform, the Auditorium, which we own.”
As if to drive home that point, Rothschild mentioned this month’s refinancing of the Auditorium. The new mortgage no longer has the city’s Cultural Center Commission as a co-signer. Rothschild said that removes the perception that the city has any control over the facility.
There are a lot of people who would like to see the city fight to keep a theater. True, there’s no money for a new venue, and that’s a very powerful argument for the city’s position. What happens, however, if (and that’s a big if) RBTL and one of these developers comes up with the funds? It may very well be too late.
