Will Beck Center Move to Crocker Park?

[Bill Call]

Beck Center is the largest cultural arts center in Northeast Ohio. While many people are familar with its theater productions, the Beck Center also serves 3,600 students per year through its arts education programs. As home to the Cleveland Arts Foundation the Center also offers numerous art shows throughout the year.

Many people are surprised to find it in Lakewood. After attending an art show at the center one man from Shaker Heights exclaimed "I didn't know you had anything like this on the West Side!"

The Beck Center is not only an art center but an important economic catalyst for Lakewood. Each year 12,000 theater goers enjoy the productions at the center. Many of those people eat or drink at a local restaraunt or bar. At the very least they leave town with a positive attitude towards the City. Some people who have students at the center choose to live in Lakewood because of the programs offered at the Center.

The City is in danger of losing Beck Center. Crocker Park has expressed an interest in providing space to the Beck Center. If a formal offer is ever made it will be very difficult for the Board of Directors to refuse to consider the offer of a more modern facility. It would be irresponsible for them not to.

The Beck Center's mission statement is in part "to be a comprehensive community arts center". The City of Lakewood is not mentioned in that statement. Their mission can be accomplished quit easily in another city.

Other communities have parlayed a cultural center like Beck into a much larger and dynamic arts district. Lakewood has failed to take advantage of that opportunity in the past. Now we are faced with the real prospect of losing the facility.

The opportunity to keep the Center and help it grow still exists. A succesful effort will take a proactive and aggressive campaign by City officials. Otherwise be prepared for a long drive to Beck Center productions.

[ryan costa]

I used to walk past it after school. Sometimes I would see classmates go in for one reason or another. They weren't dropped off by a long line of minivans and SUVs. This was during 3rd grade. I can't imagine the Beck Center filling a similar role at Crocker Park.

Should a conscious-minded, meaningful Arts Center really be expanding into an isolated Automobile Ghetto on the eve of skyrocketing fuel costs and federal bankruptcy?

[Bill Call]

Should a conscious-minded, meaningful Arts Center really be expanding into an isolated Automobile Ghetto on the eve of skyrocketing fuel costs and federal bankruptcy?

Yes.

They will do it for the money.

My guess is that even members of the board that have some loyalty to the City and the people they serve will roll over.

Aggressive action by City officals can turn this around but they aren't interested.

[dl meckes]

Exactly what actions do you think the City can and should take?

How have "city officials" demonstrated a lack of interest?

Are there any conversations taking place that we do or do not know about?

My guess is that even members of the board that have some loyalty to the City and the people they serve will roll over.

Exactly how do you define "roll over"?

[Phil Florian]

Howdy,
I have a friend that works there in the shop and they certainly don't seem to be acting like they are moving. They are working on transforming their blackbox stage (the one to the west of the main stage) into a small procenium stage (I think it is that way for "A Man of No Importance." They have also expanded more and more into the Armory, which the Beck also controls.
I wonder where this information is coming from. Why would Crocker Park unseat an established location when, if they have the space, they wouldn't simply do a theater of their own? Why not offer the space to the teeny tiny Clague Playhouse that is already a fixture in Westlake?
While the Beck is a successful institution, it isn't always a profitable one. Why would they risk solvency to move into a costlier setup when they are always skating on the fine line of barely making ends meet in their current location? Cleveland Playhouse is living this reality when they moved to their "new" digs and have never really caught up. It is a horrible facility in terms of structure and usability from all accounts.
Maybe the Beck folks might be tempted but I would certainly have to wonder why they would do so. They serve more than just Lakewood, that is for sure, but other institutions have moved into that facility, not out of it. Sure, they might want an upgrade but I think this is (I hope) rumors at best.


Phil

[Jim O'Bryan]

OK

RUMOR!

Bob Stark offered Beck Center to pay their debts, and move them into a new building in or near Crocker Park. The reason is that he wants to make Crocker Park seem more alive, and address the arts for the faux city.

When speaking with people in the know, their answer was, "Well this would make prefect sense for the Beck Center." It was not "Oh we would never leave Lakewood."

Side notes: I have seen more than one plan for the area. One had them moving Beck Center back 500' and building an Applebees in front. Another one has Stark building the property out. Another has someone else building the property out including all the back buildings.

Again this is all rumors.

One thing not a rumor is a Crocker Park business headed to Lakewood after they close their doors. All I can say is it is a restaraunt, that was not seeing the return from their high rent.


.

[Dick Powis]

Something tells me they wouldn't make enough money after the move to even cover the moving expense...

But that's crazy. I doubt they'll leave Lakewood. The Beck Center is one of the prime landmarks of Lakewood, isn't it? I mean, it definitely personafies the some of the features of Lakewood that nearby suburbs (Parma, Brooklyn, etc.) lack; i.e, art, performance, music.

Dick

[Jim O'Bryan]

Something tells me they wouldn't make enough money after the move to even cover the moving expense...

Dick

Dick

The problem is Stark is looking to do something to keep Crocker Park moving and growing. Sales of condos has been nearly nothing, and rumor has at least 5 stores moving out as soon as the lease is up.

So Stark would not worry about cost. This is a save his ass move.

Also this would give Stark a place in Lakewood to develop for pennies on the dollar.

FWIW

[john crino]

Why doesn't Stark just buy everything around the Beck and build around it? or he could buy everything on Madison from 117 to Riverside and tear that down.

[Phil Florian]

Something tells me they wouldn't make enough money after the move to even cover the moving expense...

Dick

Dick

The problem is Stark is looking to do something to keep Crocker Park moving and growing. Sales of condos has been nearly nothing, and rumor has at least 5 stores moving out as soon as the lease is up.

So Stark would not worry about cost. This is a save his ass move.

Also this would give Stark a place in Lakewood to develop for pennies on the dollar.

FWIW

Well, I hope that is enough to convince the powers that be at the Beck that Crocker Park isn't a winning bet. Beck is a genuine Lakewood institution, and very much identified by where it is, even though their customers come from all over the West Side. Offering to erase Beck's debts is a nice carrot, though. More of a bribe in my opinion but there you go. That would, to art's lovers, anyway, be a huge hit to the community if we lost that. Having an artisitic institution like that is a mark of a great community (and a somewhat prosperous one). With W. 65th and Detroit being developed to become a (hopefully) nice cultural center, we might find ourselves lost between the fake town in the west and some edgy as well as family-oriented theatre to the east, who would, I have no doubt, be more than happy to see the Beck's program move further west (nearly out of county). Ugly, ugly rumor I hope.

I think the question is on the table from an earlier poster, though. Should the city do what it can to keep the theater here? What could be done to make that carrot from the Crocker Park people look as thin and desperate as it sounds? We need the Beck, flatly. It is full of people all day and night with shows, classes, meetings, etc. That has to be good for the city to have that going on, especially since it is a destination for people outside the city to bring their money here for dining before or after a show, shopping beforehand, etc.

Phil

[Jim O'Bryan]

Phil

No matter what many say, Legacy Village and Crocker Park are having as rough of time as a real city. Actually worse as we have residents to help foot the bill.

I do see a couple options, all of them mediocre.

1) Help erase the debts. I have heard that after decades Beck is actually turning a small profit.

2) Offer the deal to Cleveland Theater.

3) Maybe turn part of McKinley into a theater, art loft, art gallery, etc.

FWIW


.

[Dick Powis]

They should just put a Chipotle next to it where it is now. And I'm not saying that because I live across the street from Beck. I just think a popular business like that could rev up the profits in a wierd "water cycle" kind of way. People leave, go to eat, eat, go to Beck. And it'd be great to have a Chipotle across the street from me.

My damn hunger pangs can be heard on the internet. Great.

Dick.

[Phil Florian]

But Dick, you have some fine tacos at the Rush Inn right there! And their other food ain't shabby, either!

Yah, Beck is doing well but they still are living show to show (like most theaters do). One show does bad, folks might miss a paycheck or two until the next show opens. This is typical and not unexpected. Some theaters lay off their staff for months at a time between shows. Can you imagine if more businesses did this?? But unlike a factory laying you off, the theater is generally going to hire you back when the next show is up. But erasing debts would be a great thing. Can the city do this? Would this raise a stink? How is this different than building a privately owned sports franchise (that doesn't have a money problem...) their own privately run playground that we can't use but they can??

We wouldn't be the first city to spend money like this. Chicago built the Chicago Shakespeare Festival's theater on Navy Pier and it is smoking cool (and very popular to boot). It is a great investment for Chicago and similar investment by this city to maintain its arts presence would be worthwhile. Actually, we are one of the few regions who DON'T spend money on the arts publicly (and yet we have a pretty thriving arts community, thankfully). Would the city support it, though?

Now would be an especially good time because the Beck, under Scott Spence's leadership, has really come out with some great, challenging and yet entertaining seasons the last few years. They maintain a list of quality fun shows for everyone while still doing challenging newer work while also embracing the classics. Few theater programs, professional or otherwise, can boast that kind of variety.

Phil

[ryan costa]

Perhaps this is more of what is meant by "branding". There is ample room at Crocker Park to get some kind of Performing Arts Center going. There is a constant stream of graduates with theatre and music degrees coming from all the colleges around. It has to cost less to start something from scratch than to pay the debts of an established act. It's the name Crocker Park is buying.

All the old towns I've been in have some kind of Ritz theatre built up during more prosperous times. I walked past multiple buildings in Cleveland that looked like they used to be theatres. Westlake and Rocky River are some of the richest cities in Ohio. They should be able to start an original thing going.

[Phil Florian]

I think it might be cheaper in the long run to take something established, though. Putting together a successful theater is more than a typical college grad with a theater degree can handle. That grad will have to find and sell the idea of such a company to a group of backers to form a board of trustees that will help get the ball up and running. Crocker Park alone won't be able to back the place indefinitely...they are strictly for-profit and theaters, in general, are not. This college grad would have to scour the country for hiring the people to make such a theater operate (there aren't a ton of professional-level Technical or Artistic Directors, Production Designers, and other skill craftspeople just hanging around Cleveland waiting for a new company to open...most searches for such high-level talents are conducted at least nationally). That's a lot of investment of time and money without producing a single show or establishing a single brand and without a single ticket sold. If the owner of Crocker Park wants some theater that fits the Crocker Park brand, they should build an auditorium that can house touring shows like "Wicked" or stuff like that. The kind of easy to swallow and accessible theater that will attempt to appeal to the widest possible audience without a lot of hometown investment (just like Crocker Park...this isn't a slam, just this is what the place represents...a shiny, marquee vision of what a small town should look like but really isn't). Then they could use it for other non-touring shows when the space is clear for local community theaters to use (there are a number of homeless theater troupes that do good shows but make their home on a show to show basis. Why not start with them?? Ah yes, branding...).

That said, I would think that using Westlake's own Clague Playhouse and re-dubbing it Crocker Playhouse would be a more "homegrown" solution. Though I am sure they are more than happy to have their little theater there by the park. Nothing is cooler to them than to put the "SOLD OUT" sticker on their marquee signs when the run is sold out completely!


Phil