STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Quality of Life
AGENDA DATE: January 13, 2021
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S): 14
DEPARTMENT: Office of Arts and Culture
EXECUTIVE: Joey Zapata
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SUBJECT
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Authorize the Fourth Amendment to the Lease Agreement with the Dallas Theater Center (DTC), to extend the delivery requirements for the Updated Master Plan, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the theater industry, to the earlier of eighteen months after the DTC has been fully operational or January 1, 2023 - Financing: No cost consideration to the City
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BACKGROUND
In September 1973, the City entered into a lease agreement with the DTC relating to the operation of the Kalita Humphreys Theater Building in William Dean Park. That agreement was first amended on November 17, 1982 (Resolution No. 82-4006) reflecting DTC’s option to renew the lease for an additional term of 20 years, thereby, extending the lease to September 26, 2013.
On April 12, 1989, the City passed Ordinance No. 20266, establishing the Office of Cultural Affairs, subsequently renamed the Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) in 2019, and empowering it to perform many of the duties previously performed by the Park and Recreation Board relating to the DTC. The proposed amendment formally transferred administrative responsibility for the DTC lease agreement from the Park and Recreation Board to the OCA and added the City-owned Heldt Office/Rehearsal Building (built with 1982 Bond Funds) to the facilities covered under the lease. Finally, the amendment allowed the City to pay electric utility costs for the facilities covered by the lease.
In 2005, the Kalita was designated as a Dallas Landmark. It is the only theater that Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed, and, in that ordinance, it states that the primary period of significance was the original 1959-1960 design. The City contracted Booziotis & Company Architects to complete a Master Plan using bond funds. The Master Plan was completed in 2010 but never formally adopted by City Council.
In June, 2019, City Council approved a five-year lease extension with DTC for the Kalita Humphreys Theater, which authorized DTC to hire an independent third-party consultant to update the Master Plan for the site and historic building at DTC expense. The agreement required DTC submit an Updated Master Plan to OAC within one year of the employment of the independent consultant with historic restoration and theater design experience.
Following City Council approval of the lease extension, DTC worked diligently through March 2020, by forming a Steering Committee in line City Council’s requirements, conducting a Request for Qualification and Request for Proposals for the third-party consultant, which culminated in the selection of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and consultants, hosting a community meeting with attendance of over 200 people on March 4, 2020, and securing more than $1.25 million of the estimated $2 million budget for the master plan update.
Due to COVID-19, Dallas art institutions, including DTC, closed on March 13, 2020, and DTC had to cancel the remainder of the season. DTC has yet to receive permission to resume in-person work from three critical unions: Actors Equity, United Scenic Artists (designers), and Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, in part due to COVID-19 rates in Dallas County.
This proposed action is responsive to the COVID-19 impact on the theater industry and authorizes an extension of delivery requirements for DTC. DTC believes that it will be able to resume the Updated Master Plan work following relevant unions’ granting permission to return to in-person work and a return to full operations for six months. Upon restarting, DTC needs 10-12 months to complete the work. The revised timeline for the Updated Master Plan does not impact the overall five-year term of the DTC lease.
PRIOR ACTION/REVIEW (COUNCIL, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS)
On June 12, 2019, City Council authorized the Third Amendment to the Lease Agreement with the Dallas Theater Center by Resolution No. 19-0889.
The Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee was briefed regarding this matter on November 16, 2020.
FISCAL INFORMATION
No cost consideration to the City.
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