Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette The historic Calumet Theatre has held only one show since the start of the COVID pandemic last year.

CALUMET — A letter from the Village Council dated Aug. 30, 2021, was sent to Shannon Richter, president of the Board of Directors of the Calumet Theatre Company, regarding the tenancy of the company, along with infrastructural work the company has conducted, without prior approval of the Village Council.

Pursuant to the lease agreement executed with the village of Calumet, dated March 1, 2017, the letter explains the reasons the council does not feel the Theatre Company is living up to its commitments, either to the community or the theater.

In 1987, the Calumet Theatre Company was incorporated as an independent non-profit 501(C)-3 organization to operate and maintain the theater, with revenue from fundraising and ticket sales.

“Until recently,” states the letter, “the Theatre Company had eight employees and was supported by a community of hundreds of members, donors, and volunteers.

“As of Aug. 21, 2021, the Theatre Company’s own website boasted that it hosted a diverse slate of 55-65 events annually.”

However, the village feels that the Theatre Company is understaffed and does not seem to have a concrete plan for putting on shows and events.

“The village has a duty to ensure that the theater complex is safe and preserved for future generations,” the letter states, “and also that village residents have ample opportunities to enjoy the space.”

The Theatre Company has been under increasing public criticism for several months, particularly since April 26, 2021, when its board fired its then-executive director, Marlin Lee, without stating reasons beyond “the position has been eliminated in favor of a more efficient business model),” as stated in Richter’s email correspondence with the Daily Mining Gazette on Wednesday.

The “more efficient business model,” as she described it, has not been disclosed to the Theatre members or the Village Council. The board’s firing of Lee has outraged many village residents, who are becoming vocal on the issue.

With the firing of Lee, three remaining employees resigned the same week, as was stated on the social media page for a group called “Advocates for the Calumet Theatre,” which was neither confirmed nor denied by Richter. When Lee was fired, the Theatre Company announced it would concentrate on infrastructure issues long neglected before reopening with rentals and shows, predicting a late July reset.

Those infrastructure issues, and how they were addressed, have the Village Council concerned.

“Summer hires with specific infrastructure tasks were employed and successfully completed the bulk of our tasks,” stated Richter in her email. “Those tasks that have been completed have been exhaustively chronicled on our Facebook page, with much community support demonstrated by both likes and comments. We monitor our engagement metrics on Facebook as well and tweak posts based on past performance.”

“Those tasks that have been completed,” as mentioned above, are also a concern to the Village Council, as stated in its Aug. 30 letter to Richter. Acting Village Clerk Dave Geisler said that according to the lease, before any infrastructure “tasks” are begun, they must first be proposed to, and approved by, the council, which the Theatre Company neglected to do.

According to the letter to Richter, the village plans to conduct an inspection to ensure that the property is maintained in a safe and workable manner, the letter states, and to “address concerns brought to the attention of the village, of alterations made to the leased premises.”

The inspection will occur on Sept. 14, starting at 5 p.m.

“In consideration of the public benefit the Theatre Company provided to the community,” the letter continues, “the village leased the theater to organization (Calumet Theatre Company) for only $1 per year.”

In her email to the Gazette, Richter stated that the lease is good through 2032 and was signed in 2012 by Art Limback, the Theatre president at the time. As mentioned above, the village dates the lease to March 1, 2017, establishing a five-year discrepency between the Theatre Board and the Village Council.

“We maintain that we are in complete compliance with the lease,” stated Richter.

“Under the most recent executive director, pandemic restrictions allowed only a single show in over a year,” Richter continued. “The Tamburitzans returned to the main stage on Aug. 13. Very well attended and again executed flawlessly. This is a contract show promoted by the Calumet Rotary who handled ticketing and marketing.”

Because financial statements posted on the Theatre website are not accessible to the public, neither attendance nor ticket sales could be verified by the Daily Mining Gazette.

“We have been doing ballroom rentals right along, with the last rental on Aug. 22,” stated Richter.

Again, the Daily Mining Gazette has not been able to confirm this.

Richter added in the email that the Theatre Company is “doing our traditional diversity of shows now that infrastructure projects are almost complete. Statements to the contrary are false.”

“The Boy Band Review returns to the main stage on Sept. 25,” Richter stated. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite.”

Several Village Council members, as well as many community members, have questioned the ability of the Theatre to successfully sell enough tickets to pay for the event, in light of the recent Joe Nichols concert issue, which Richter stated the Theatre Company is working to reschedule currently. Another concern is that currently the Theatre does not have enough experienced employees to bring a show from planning to the stage, something Richter herself admitted to, albeit inadvertently:

“We have been actively recruiting new permanent staff on social media and with the headhunter group Stang,” stated Richter in her email. “We have one hire on board now, a second ready to be hired, and have interviewed over a dozen potential candidates.”

The village, in its letter to Richter, also requests a current copy of the insurance policy that the tenant is required to maintain, pursuant to Paragraph 6 of the lease agreement, so that the village can ensure that its files correctly reflect the most current insurance policy.

Finally, the village will exercise its right to use the lease premises and theatrical properties at time that do not conflict with the tenant’s previously scheduled activities, pursuant to Paragraph 8 of the lease agreement. The council asks in the letter that the Theatre Company provide a current list of scheduled events, as none are Theatre Company’s website.