In a heavy blow to the already embattled performing arts center proposed for downtown Durham, industry juggernaut Clear Channel Communications Inc. pulled out Monday from its commitment to be the theater’s operator. The corporation would have borne the brunt of the operation costs while paying a percentage of the center’s profits to the city.
The city and Clear Channel had not forged a solid partnership, said Alan DeLisle, Durham’s economic development director, adding that he wasn’t surprised the company backed out.
“There was never a certainty that they were going to do this project,” he said. “They mentioned that the strategic plan for the company is being redefined, that there are some management changes and that they could not commit to the conditions that the city laid out in our discussions with them.”
Clear Channel of Raleigh officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon.
The proposed theater has been plagued by controversy from its inception, said City Council member John Best, Jr. A portion of the center’s funding was planned to come from a new hotel tax, levied specifically to cover most of the project’s construction costs. Durham residents have complained to City Hall that the theater would be a misuse of tax dollars and hurt ailing Durham institutions like the Carolina Theater.
“I was against the original theater plan because it is too large of a venue to be paid for with additional taxpayer dollars,” said Best, the only council member who voted in June against the extension of the exclusive development rights to Clear Channel. “I’ve always felt that local taxpayers can’t afford to put any more money into a facility like that when we have the Durham Bulls, the Arts Council—things we have paid for in the past and continue to pay for to this very day. A new theater is fine, but not with additional taxpayer dollars.”
Some members of the local arts community had also charged that Clear Channel enjoys a virtual monopoly of the music venue industry. “The fact that Clear Channel is no longer involved may make people more comfortable with the project,” DeLisle said. “Certainly a number of people have raised concern.”
Adding to the turmoil, City Council members had asked Duke to help pay for the center. University officials have repeatedly said Duke wouldn’t pay for any of the theater’s costs unless special accommodations, such as a modified stage and dressing rooms, were included for the American Dance Festival, which holds its summer season at Duke.
Two deadlines loom on the horizon: If the city does not commit to build the theater by this October, it could lose the plot of land on which it hopes to build the center. And if construction doesn’t start by October 2005, the city will lose state money.
The city is already searching for a new operator, but now, city officials are more unsure than ever whether the project will break ground. “[Clear Channel’s departure] could be the best thing that ever happened,” DeLisle said. “Or it could be the kiss of death.”
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