RESTORATION Officials support resolution

It would make $1 million available for Packard Music Hall improvements.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A resolution is being introduced today in city council in support of transferring a $1 million state bond from the Robins Theater restoration project to improvements at the city-owned Packard Music Hall.
The resolution, which calls the Robins project "no longer viable," is co-sponsored by Councilman Robert L. Dean Jr., D-at large, and Councilwoman Susan E. Hartman, D-7th.
If it passes the resolution in its 7:30 p.m. meeting, city council would be supporting a legislative effort by state Rep. Randy Law of Warren, R-64th, to have the money transferred.
"I don't consider the Robins Theater a viable city project at this point. We don't own the building. We have no lease on the building," Hartman said. Hartman said she didn't want to see the $1 million diverted elsewhere in the state.
"I think that we have more of a chance of holding onto it as long as we keep it in a viable project, which is what Packard Music Hall is right now," Hartman said.
Study's recommendations
The proposed council resolution comes two weeks after the release by city officials of a feasibility study, which concluded it would cost $3.7 million just to do minimal renovation and restoration and make the Robins Theater -- which is privately owned -- "safe, warm and dry." The ornate 1923-vintage film and Vaudeville theater closed in 1974.
The study by Westlake, Reed & amp; Leskosky architects and engineers of Cleveland recommended restoring the Robins Theater but said it would cost $12.3 million to open it for performances.
The $1 million is a fraction of what is needed to restore and open the hall, Hartman noted. "That's still $11 million to raise when you haven't raised any of it yet," she observed. "This $1 million could go there, and it could still become a parking lot," if the theater is demolished, she said.
Too far gone
After the study was released, Mayor Michael O'Brien said the Robins Theater is in an advanced state of deterioration, and renovating and restoring it would be impractical for the city.
Even if a state or federal grant were to pay for restoration, the grant wouldn't pay for annual operation and maintenance, the mayor said.
The city already provides a $250,000 annual subsidy to Packard Music Hall, a functioning hall that will celebrate its 50th anniversary Saturday. The mayor said the city can't realistically subsidize another performance venue.
William "Doug" Franklin, city safety-services director, has said the city can't subsidize another entertainment venue at the risk of compromising services to its citizens.
milliken@vindy.com