Just one day after receiving an emergency loan from the city for $10,000, Executive Director Caitlin McGrath of the Friends of the Greenbelt Theatre (FOGT) met with the Greenbelt City Council on June 7 for the annual review of theater operations. In general, council appeared sympathetic to the theater’s failure to become self-sufficient this year, as anticipated in the agreement. So far this year, McGrath said, the theater has lost $11,000.
FOGT is currently exploring possible options with city staff including making McGrath a city employee, as was done with the Museum curator. She is not yet ready to request this both because she still feels that the theater can be made to be self-sustaining and concerns that customers might view that as making FOGT a city operation and thus less in need of donations.
Rough Year
It’s been a rough year for the theater. First, PEPCO reviewed their account, determined it was calculating the theater’s bill incorrectly and billed them for a year’s worth of service what they now view as the correct rate, resulting in a quintupled monthly bill and a back billing of $19,000. Then there were unexpected legal costs of nearly $18,000. On top of that, their contract with the city provided for a $50,000 subsidy during their first two years but did not provide a subsidy in 2017.
Read more of this story in the June 22 News Review