SAVING THE LENSIC
Preservation fee of $3 on tickets goes toward maintenance and tech upgrades at treasured 85-year-old theater
People who’ve attended shows at the Lensic Performing Arts Center over the past year may have noticed a $3 fee tacked onto the ticket price. A “preservation fee” has been added to all tickets costing $10 or more since last March, replacing a $1 charge that was levied before, according to Lensic executive director Joel Aalberts.
Funds from the preservation fee go toward maintenance of the ornate 85-year-old theater and keeping all of its technology up to date. And that, Aalberts said, ensures that the Lensic remains available to the community.
“It is a well-loved space . ... You want to maintain the character and the charm,” he said. “Sometimes with a historic space, it takes a little more.”
After the Lensic staff did some numbers-crunching last year, the preservation fee was viewed as the best way to raise revenue, Aalberts
said. Crowdsourcing the money from tickets prevents putting all the responsibility on venue renters through higher fees.
Aalberts said the fee also reminds residents that the theater is a not-for-profit organization that needs community support. “It’s a communication piece: ‘This is a theater we are supporting and by making a small additional investment with your ticket, it allows for this (theater) to exist,’” he said.
As an example of an expense that this fee would accommodate, Aalberts cited $7,000 spent last year to replace both drains in the atrium bathrooms after they filled up completely.
“There are things that happen to break a lot more when you have an older building,” he said. He also noted that the Lensic aims to stay “ahead of the curve” with its lighting and sound technology.
The ticket fee also means rental and fundraising revenue can go solely toward education and outreach programs. Since 2013, the Lensic also has received about $10,000 annually for education programs under a deal with city government that gives the theater $1 from each parking fee in the municipal garage across the street on event nights.
There have been some complaints about the preservation fee, but no more than those over other issues like ticket prices and other patron concerns, Aalberts said.
“This is a way to continue to allow us to keep our resource available,” he said. “... We want to take good care of it.”
Aalberts was unsure how much has been raised through the fee in its first 10 months or so, adding that the Lensic will have a better idea when the current fiscal year ends in July.
He said that the theater typically puts out about 100,000 tickets annually, but that total includes complimentary tickets. Prior-year tickets were already yielding $1 each that went toward operations and administrative support. The existing $3 charge “absorbed” that fee.
Tickets purchased at the Lensic box office also include an additional $1 “walk-up” fee.