The Old Town Playhouse, a 501(c)3 community theatre in Traverse City, Michigan, has recently been closed for public assembly for over 50 people. In July, the fire marshal conducted an inspection, and the Old Town Playhouse was found in violation of several current fire codes. This has required OTP to produce all shows in alternate venues. Renovations to bring the 85-year old structure up to current day fire codes have been estimated at approximately $400,000.

The Old Town Playhouse, home of the Traverse City Civic Players, was founded in 1960. In 1975 the Players purchased the First Christian Church which was renovated to serve as a theatre. A five-phase plan for the renovation of the playhouse was developed for the building. Three phases of the plan were completed, the last in 1991. During each renovation, the building was inspected by both the fire marshal and the building inspector. Each time OTP was found to be in compliance with current building and fire codes in the newly renovated areas, and the older portions of the building were considered covered under the "grandfather" clause. The bulk of the violations are in this older part which is no longer being "grandfathered".

Since September, OTP has been forced to present our season in alternate venues. This has proved to be a logistical and financial nightmare. Our costs for the use of these venues will be close to $20,000 by the end of May. This has cut drastically into our net profits. Logistically, the use of outside venues has been a nearly insurmountable challenge to coordinate and execute for a corporation which is run by nearly all volunteers. It has also been extremely unsettling to our season subscribers to keep up with our "rotating traveling show". Ticket sales have been affected. Show dates have had to be changed to accommodate availability in various venues, and our last show of the season has been canceled due to the lack of a venue.

The Old Town Playhouse has looked at every possible option. We have investigated selling our property and buying space elsewhere, creating a partnership with a local high school, as well as the option of continuing the use of rotating venues. No other one venue can offer us the amount of days or time we need to produce our season. We currently use our existing venue approximately 350 days a year. No one venue can offer us this amount of availability. The cost of renting outside facilities has reduced our net income by nearly 40%. In addition to rent, we have incurred added costs due to truck rentals to move our sets, costume, props, etc., plus additional premiums paid for liability insurance covering us at these venues, cost of reticketing our shows due to new seating and dates, and mailings to inform our ticket holders where we are.

At this point, the only feasible option is to renovate our existing structure. As with many non-profit, community theatres, the Old Town Playhouse has always operated on an extremely tight budget. We have negotiated a loan with Old Kent Bank so that we may get back into our space as soon as possible. However, this is not a debt we can afford to carry long, thus we have implemented an aggressive fundraising plan in order to raise the needed monies to aid in the renovation.

These fundraising plans include a capital campaign, a black-tie event, and a direct mailing. The black-tie event will continue to be produced annually to provide funds which will supplement operating costs and eventually serve to aid in the development of an endowment fund for the playhouse.