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City selects AVA Presents to study and operate City Auditorium; lease pending signature
Summary
Parks staff described a proposed lease with AVA Presents (Alternative Venue Alliance) to study and ultimately operate and invest in the City Auditorium; staff said the agreement is awaiting final signature and would begin a roughly nine-month study period before capital work.
City parks staff told the Historic Preservation Board on Sept. 8 that the city has selected AVA Presents (Alternative Venue Alliance) to study and potentially operate and invest in the City Auditorium, and that a lease agreement awaiting final signatures would launch an approximately nine-month assessment phase.
Kim King, assistant director for Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, summarized the auditorium's history and recent efforts to find a long-term operator. The auditorium, completed in 1923 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, is roughly 40,000 square feet and has long-standing maintenance and infrastructure needs, King said.
King said the city conducted a request-for-proposal process and selected AVA Presents, led by Jesse Morale, a Colorado Springs native and venue developer. King said the proposal emphasizes respecting historic features while studying infrastructure and operations, and that AVA Presents would invest capital and offset rent with those investments. "As he invests funds into the building, those can offset what the rent would be," King said.
King described an initial study period of about nine months to assess infrastructure and operations; she said the proposed lease is an initial five-year term with an option for additional renewal terms and that council approved the arrangement via resolution because it is structured as a below-market-value lease. King said staff planned to keep ownership with the city and review any major capital work before it proceeds. "All of the big capital projects that he plans do have to go through us first," she said.
Board members asked about staffing, in-kind city support and preservation of character-defining elements such as murals and the Lon Chaney Theatre name. King said the city currently provides maintenance through city facilities and parks staff but that near-term staffing commitments are limited by constrained budgets; she said staff could explore grant opportunities and use the board as a resource on preservation matters. King also said the organ remains in place and that some seating and restroom work would likely be necessary.
When asked about timing, King said she hoped the final signatures would begin "that final signature process" as soon as the next day. The board offered to help identify potential grant opportunities and technical expertise to support restoration planning; King said the parks department has a grant writer who can work with AVA Presents if a funding strategy is developed.
No city council budget commitment was made at the meeting; staff emphasized that the city will retain ownership and take a review role on capital improvements.
