5/16/2007

Performing Arts Center possible
By Don Klein

While a pall threatens the future of the yet-to-be-built, controversial Ocean Pines Community Center, the prospect of a performing arts center (PAC) in northern Worcester County is still very much alive despite the seeming budgetary concerns. The concept grips the attention of those in power because of the recognized need for cultural activities for new sophisticated residents moving into a once rural seashore area.

"The people who retire and come here to the Eastern Shore to live, love it here, but complain they miss the cultural characteristics they are used to," Worcester County Commissioner Judy Boggs of Ocean Pines noted. "It's the same for the people who are from here and the summer tourists as well."

A proposed performing arts center in the greater Berlin area would solve this need, she said. "It is a priority this year," she said, "but there are budgetary considerations and the level of county revenues to be considered before anything can be firmed up." The economy at the moment "is flat," she said.

Immediate funding for the performing arts center is tenuous during a time when the county is trying to trim $24 million out of the upcoming budget. There are other demands on the county treasury like three new schools, a new senior center, and others that will take precedence.

There is no question that the PAC concept has strong support. The board of commissioners put it on its priority list just behind school construction, work force housing, renovation of Route 589 and the senior center.

"There definitely is a need for a performing arts center," claimed Dr. Memo Diriker, professor of marketing at Salisbury University, who was asked to do a feasibility study on the subject a few years ago.   The effort was under the Business, Economics and Community Outreach Network (BEACON), a division of the Perdue School of Business.

"It would need a construction subsidy of about $1.5 million," he forecasted at the time, "but there is no question that it could sustain itself during a year long series of programs." The construction price in the Capital Improvement Plan has since raised the initial cost to $2.2 million.
The proposed 250-seat theater would be the center for community based performances of all kinds. There would be local theater productions, symphony orchestra concerts, recitals, dances, workshops and even weddings and catered ballroom type events, plus star-quality road shows.

"It would be a simple black box structure with four walls and flexible seating in U-shape or O-shape or auditorium configurations," Dr. Diriker explained. "It would have an entrance foyer, a service area and a flat floor for ballroom dancing," he added.

It would be much like the Bobbi Biron Theater on the campus of Salisbury University, he explained, and would pay for its ongoing operations through ticket sales and rental fees.
"The way the northern end of the county is growing with many seniors coming from other parts of the east coast," the professor said, "the residents need more than a beach to keep them interested." It would enhance the value of real estate.

Dr. Diriker explained that Worcester County is the only location in Maryland that is a net importer of seniors. The rest of the state is "getting younger as retired families move to other states," he said, "but not Worcester County." Thousands of elders have chosen the Maryland coastal areas for their retirement.

"The performing arts center will be built eventually, I know, because the county is growing and needs to diversity available entertainment," Dr. Diriker said, "the center will be built soon, or something like it will be built."

The center would be designed to appeal to year long residents, and should attract enough quality performers to appeal to summer visitors as well. "It will have an economic impact on the area in general because when people go to shows they usually plan related activities as well, like dining out and so on," he added.

Dr. Diriker insists the performing arts center "is a good idea. I'm glad the county is interested in it." He said it probably will attract attendance from up to 30 miles away. He could see Salisbury residents as well as those from lower Delaware and southern Worcester County as regular patrons.

Asked why the center should be located in north county, Commissioner Boggs said, "That's where the population is." She said although it might not make the next budget year, the center is expected to be approved during the current four year term of the commissioners which started in November 2006.

The self-sustaining center will probably be built in the greater Berlin area, although no site has yet been decided upon. The proposed building in the Diriker study is of simple construction and could be built in four or five months. The study concluded that 60 percent of the patrons would come from the immediate area and the rest from a radius of 30 miles or more.

"I would love to move ahead on it," said Ms. Boggs.

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