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Factoid: SAVE will next meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Interfaith Center. The public is invited to attend.
Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole says he'll help preserve the defunct Varsity Theater in any way he can.
Just don't ask for any money.
At least that was the message he sent to Save Arts and the Varsity for Carbondale (SAVE) at the group's weekly meeting July 9 at which Cole, in addition to representatives from several community groups that have an interest in the building's future, showed up to discuss what involvement they could have in a community reclamation of the building.
Most of them said the same thing, but nobody's statement caused hearts to sink so much as Cole's.
"The city of Carbondale is in the city business, not the theater business," Cole told the large group that had gathered in the basement of the Interfaith Center. "The [city] council is not interested in acquiring the property.
"The potential is there, and the council would work with the committee."
Cole's statements were his first public remarks on the fate of the 63-year-old theater since May 27, when he had a community forum with Carbondale Main Street Program Director Roxanne Conley to gather public input on how the building should be put to use. Since then, Cole said, he has been in regular contact with the theater's owner, the Springfield-based Kerasotes Theaters, to help facilitate whatever transition needs to take place.
Cole said he spoke with them as recently as July 4, and the news was the same - the theater chain is still in the process of assessing the theater's value, and there is no new news to add. However, Cole said he is more than happy to continue dealing personally with Kerasotes representatives and report back to SAVE whenever there is new information to disclose.
The mayor's sentiments were echoed up and down the table by community representatives who said that while their organizations were interested in having an involvement in the building's future, their pocketbooks are too thin to offer financial support. From Carbondale Community Arts and the International Film Festival to the Greylight Theater and the Big Muddy Film Festival, enthusiasm was high, but financial commitment was low.
"We'll scrub floors, we'll wash windows, we'll sell tickets, whatever," said Rick Williams, who represented the International Film Festival. "But we're waiting for the fairy Godmother, too."
Others concurred.
"We want to see something in that building, but we want something in all buildings downtown," said Conley, who attended on behalf of Carbondale Main Street. "I don't know if we're committing one way or another."
The worry about monetary strength has been a major concern for SAVE members since the Varsity, located at 418 S. Illinois Ave., closed its doors May 14, one day before Kerasotes opened its state-of the-art ShowPlace 8 on the east end of University Mall. Kerasotes CEO Tony Kerasotes has said before that the company is interested in congenially working with Carbondale on the future of the Varsity, but the theater chain has a varied past in such dealings that makes it difficult to determine what the outcome would be.
While in some cases, such as with Murphysboro's Liberty Theatre, the company sold the building for a fraction of its value or even donated it to the community, other cases have involved more money and more restrictions.
Regardless, SIUC Associate Chancellor Raymond Lenzi, who attended the meeting, volunteered his help in transforming SAVE into a legal non-profit organization, giving the group the financial shoes to be able to negotiate a transaction or even receive the building as a charitable donation.
But, until then, the wait continues. And so do the financial stresses.
"[Kerasotes has] been very cooperative in talking to me, and I've told them we're interested in preserving it as a center for the arts," Cole said. "They have not spent a lot of time on the Varsity. It's not something they're quickly moving on."
