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St. Cloud's Paramount gets a financial boost
by Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public Radio
January 6, 2004

The historic Paramount Theater will come under the ownership of the city of St. Cloud. (MPR Photo/Annie Baxter)

St. Cloud's Paramount Theater and arts center hit hard times during the economic downturn of the past few years, as did many arts groups around the state and country. But the new year may signal an upturn for the Paramount. The city of St. Cloud is going to take over ownership of the arts facility. That includes the Paramount's debts totaling about $400,000. The move will lend some financial stability to one of central Minnesota's most important cultural centers.

St. Cloud, Minn. — At a December theater performance at the Paramount, several unlikely theater-goers milled about the lobby during intermission. They were young men wearing blue jeans and hunting caps. And they came to see the play Guys on Ice, a comedy about ice fishing.

For people like Paul Molitor from Sartell -- the ice fisherman, not the famous baseball player -- this trip to the Paramount was historic. He says he's never been to the Paramount before, but he probably will come back.

	Director Milward Simpson

"It's very good," Molitor remarked about the performance.

Plays like Guys on Ice, which aren't black tie, highbrow fare, have helped the Paramount build a wide audience.

"I'd say we've been in a period of accelerated growth, particularly in the past three years," says the Paramount's Executive Director, Milward Simpson.

Simpson says that since the theater's renovation and reopening in 1998, ticket sales have doubled several seasons in row.

But that happy story has its counterpart.

This is theater, after all. And its famous emblems are those twin Greek masks -- one face smiling; the other, downcast.

Not surprisingly, the tragic side of the Paramount story has to do with money -- specifically, with revenue sources outside of ticket sales.

The city will get an asset that has an appraised value of over $7 million. From a financial point of view, it makes a lot of sense. - St. Cloud Mayor John Ellenbecker

"The climate for the arts -- especially this past year and looking probably the next year into the future -- has been very challenging," Simpson says. "There's less money coming from foundations because of the lag in the stock market. People are watching their pocketbooks a little more closely, public funding has decreased ... That means less grant money available to arts groups."

All these woes add up to one simple word -- debt. The Paramount owes nearly $500,000 to its current owner, the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority. But that debt will soon be paid off by the city of St. Cloud, which will take over ownership of the theater.

St. Cloud Mayor John Ellenbecker says it's part of the city's mission to support groups like the Paramount. He says the benefits of doing so go both ways.

"The net impact is that the city will get an asset that has an appraised value of over $7 million," Ellenbecker says. "From a financial point of view, it makes a lot of sense."

"I wish more cities would help their community theaters out," says John Skaalen of the Minnesota Asssociation of Community Theatres.

Skaalen says most community theaters are not city-owned. But even in the economic downturn, many managed to survive. The crucial factor for theaters may have been simply hanging in there.

	Wants edgier theater

"If they can pass the five-year point and keep growing, and bring in a younger element, then they probably have made it," Skaalen says.

The Paramount is right at that decisive juncture. It just celebrated its five-year anniversary last summer.

Certainly, shows like the ice fishing comedy have brought in new audience members. But some young people in town are craving something edgier.

In a downtown St. Cloud cafe, Barry Braun, 25, explains his own attempts a few years ago to run an arts organization. He brought films to town like Bowling for Columbine and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a film about a drag queen.

"We came from a younger perspective, a young group of people that are trying to get together and add a little more alternative culture to the area," Braun says. "Whereas a lot of other arts organizations are pretty safe, politically correct, bringing in things that aren't going to raise any hair on anybody."

With the city of St. Cloud's new vow of support, the Paramount might be in a safer position to take more risks.

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