Downtown Space: The Final Frontier

Or more like, the vanishing frontier....

Important Time Out piece on the real estate war being waged on what used to be the affordable downtown performance spaces. Leave it to a banker to remind us:

"A theater is a business, pure and simple,” says David Michonski, the CEO of Coldwell Banker’s commercial division, which handled the Mo Pitkin’s sale. “Unless steps are taken to make sure theaters can survive and prosper—either by public subsidies for their creation or zoning that requires they be part of the urban landscape—they risk being overwhelmed by other businesses.”

Hence the increasing popularity of the Fringe as a venue:

“It’s such a great financial bargain that many indie companies are quite content to produce their new work the Fringe [for a $550 fee] instead of seeking out costlier venues at other times,” [press agent Ron Lasko] says. “When a showcase costs $20,000 to $40,000 to mount, there’s little room for experimentation.”

I may not be blogging. But I'm still reading.