Medford committee asks city to help seek funds after Friends group says Chevalier Theatre budget near empty

Medford City’s Facilities Committee voted May 20 to ask the city administration to help the Friends of the Chevalier Theatre apply for Community Preservation Act funding or to look into free cash to cover emergency lighting and other immediate safety needs at the downtown theater.

The motion, moved by Councilor Joseph Scarpelli and seconded by Councilor Lazaro, passed on a roll call of four yes votes with one councilor absent. Committee members said they will ask the mayor’s office and finance staff to assist with a CPA proposal or other short-term funding requests.

The vote came after Cindy Watson, who identified herself at the meeting as representing the Friends of the Chevalier Theatre and as a commissioner, told the committee that she had learned from the city’s chief financial officer that “right now, there’s only $25,000 in the fund.” Watson said the Friends normally expect a $100,000 annual state earmark and that Representative Paul Donato has raised funds for the theater for years.

Paul Riggi, Medford’s facilities director, told the committee staff are “double checking with the state that the appropriation was properly transferred over to the city of Medford.” Riggi said city finance staff, including CFO Bob Dickinson, have contacted the state controller’s office to confirm the date and amount of any transfer and whether funds need to be re-coded into the Chevalier account.

Watson and Riggi told the committee of recent and planned work at the theater with dollar figures supplied to the city: replacement of antiquated emergency lighting ($18,922), exterior door and fire-escape repairs ($27,935), a nonfunctional handicap door opener ($8,850) and other accessibility work ($36,579). Watson also cited an earlier $14,000 line-item for increased emergency lighting in a budget message she received. Riggi said an initial estimate to upgrade balcony lighting was about $63,000 but that additional needs have raised that cost.

Watson said the Friends have also secured outside grants and fundraising—citing $300,000 from work connected to the Mass Gaming Commission mitigation fund and a sustaining grant from the Cummings Foundation—and that private fundraising and earned revenue support the theater’s local economic role. She also noted recent litigation involving a patron who fell on a balcony and said the complaint had raised renewed urgency for improved lighting and accessibility.

Councilors and the committee chair emphasized the limits of council authority over the mayor’s budget but said the upcoming departmental budget presentations that evening would include the Chevalier’s line items. Chair Callahan told Watson the committee could forward the request to the mayor’s office and finance department for a formal response and to assist with a CPA application if appropriate.

The motion passed after Councilor Scarpelli framed it as a public-safety funding request: the committee will “ask if someone from the city can assist us in writing a proposal or request for the CPA or look into free cash for funding for lighting updates for the balcony and other needs … to be looked at immediately for public safety purposes.” The motion was seconded by Councilor Lazaro and approved on a roll call.

Committee members said staff will follow up with CFO Bob Dickinson, Director Riggi and Representative Donato’s office to reconcile the state earmark’s transfer and to confirm what funds are immediately available. Watson said she would remain involved and that the Friends have documentation of past expenditures and fundraising to share with city staff.

Background: the Chevalier Theatre is a municipally owned performing-arts venue run in partnership with private producers. Friends leaders at the meeting said the group has long supported the theater with private fundraising, grant writing and capital projects. The committee did not authorize city spending; it asked administration to assist with an application and to clarify current account balances.