Sunset Center wants out of Theatre
CARMEL >> The often contentious relationship between the Forest Theatre and its parent, Carmel’s Sunset Center, is coming to an end as Sunset notified the city it wants to terminate the lease to manage one of the oldest outdoor theaters west of the Rocky Mountains.
On Tuesday elected officials in Carmel gave the green light for city staff to seek proposals from individuals or organizations to take over the lease of the Forest Theater.
For the past several years, animosity has grown between Sunset and the Forest Theater Guild. In February 2020, Yvonne Hildebrand-Bowen, executive director of the Forest Theater Guild, said the Sunset Center had been squeezing the theater’s summer season because Sunset wanted more money from the theater.
In a November 2019 email to Hildebran-Bowen, Sunset Executive Director Christine Sandin-Fletcher indicated that Forest would only be able to offer dates for the movies it provided and not any additional productions.
“It is our vision to not only improve the revenue situation at the Forest Theater but also satisfy the demand for a more diverse rotation of community uses there,” Sandin wrote in the email. “We had hoped to see improvements from the Guild over the last two summers in terms of contributed income but have seen none.
“We regret that this offer is likely not an ideal scenario for (the Forest Theater), but we do not wish to create a continued overdependence on a venue that ultimately cannot offer long-term sustainability solutions,” Sandlin wrote.
The criticism grew more pointed in early 2020 as financial pressures grew and negotiations faltered.
“I’m not going to negotiate it through the press,” Sandin said at that time. “They (Forest Theater) have had an opportunity to reply to our offer but they have been delaying. Instead, they have gone to the (Carmel City) council and the press.”
The Sunset Center has a 15year lease with the city that was agreed upon in 2017 with an option for an additional 15-year lease. It has agreed to manage the Forest on a month-to-month basis until a new landlord is found.
On Tuesday, Sandin said the Sunset Center wanted to unload the Forest Theater for two reasons. First, “it’s unclear what the community felt was a priority for the venue,” and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the center to “constrict and manage resources appropriately in order to sustain ourselves for what could be a long haul,” Sandin said.
The city is also wanting a clearer vision of what the community wants to see in the Forest. Ashlee Wright, Carmel’s library and community activities director who is overseeing the transition, is organizing a survey of residents beginning Friday at the town’s community farmer’s market.
The city’s request for proposals opens April 2 and closes May 28. A decision on a new managing entity will likely take place in June with an agreement signed in late summer or early fall.