PACKARD HALL Future uses are debated

Finances, infrastructure and programming are being considered.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A theater consultant working on plans to improve Packard Music Hall is impressed with the outpouring of support.
Jeffrey Gress, with ArtSpace Design Ltd. of Newark, said he received great response from a questionnaire aimed at gauging public sentiment about the hall's future.
"It's amazing, the depth of commitment these people have," he said.
Gress spoke Monday at Kent State University Trumbull Campus before a select group of community and business leaders, highlighting ideas for the hall's use and initiatives that must come first.
This was the second of two public meetings held at KSUTC this month to discuss future funding, programming and upgrading in hopes of drumming up more business at the hall and relieving the financially strapped city of its annual subsidy.
The city-owned hall on Mahoning Avenue N.W. is used for concerts, lectures, dance recitals, fund-raising events and more.
Suggestions: The 60 or so questionnaires Gress received say the hall should be a multiuse facility for such functions as wedding receptions, an art gallery, trade shows and conferences.
Though planning has just begun, Gress said, the community needs to consider legal, environmental, economic and site issues; safety; aesthetics; construction; operations; and technology upgrading.
To become more marketable, Gress said, the hall must have activities for people of all ages.
Bobbie Brown, director of the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County, said many of FACT's member agencies -- including a musicians' union and Warren Civic Music -- rely on the hall to stage events.
"As an arts community, I definitely think we have a stake in the future of the music hall," she said.
Funding: Packard Band Trustees, who oversee the music hall, and KSUTC officials have been meeting to find ways to fund music hall operations. They will continue discussing information gathered by Gress.
The city's annual subsidy has waned in recent years because of a budget shortage that closed parks and resulted in layoffs.
The city debated cutting its subsidy altogether this year but agreed to $75,000 through June 30. If Packard trustees find a way to make the hall more marketable, the city will kick in another $75,000.
Standards: Packard Trustee Linda Metzendorf said it will be a massive undertaking to improve the facility and to meet safety guidelines and requirements outlined in the Americans With Disabilities Act.
For the hall to be competitive, Metzendorf said, it needs a ticket office -- a plan crimped by the lack of funds.
John DeFrance of Olsavsky Jaminet Architects in Youngstown said major renovations are on hold.
DeFrance said he's familiar with music hall operations and used to help build sets for productions being staged there.
"The problem with the building is that it was constructed in 1954 and very little has been done since then to maintain and improve it," he said.