The Redding City Council unanimously agreed that they should do what they can to keep the city-owned Civic Auditorium from closing.
The nonprofit that runs the space, Advance Redding, said it needed an additional $1.4 to $1.6 million per year to remain open. The city previously operated the auditorium, but other financial constraints nearly closed it in 2011.
At that time, the local megachurch, Bethel, offered a solution. Church leaders formed the nonreligious nonprofit Advance Redding to operate the venue. Advance Redding then subleased the space back to Bethel for use as a classroom for its School of Supernatural Ministry. That agreement lasted for over a decade, until Bethel withdrew from the auditorium in 2024, following a decline in school enrollment.
Advance Redding said that the increasing volatility of ticket sales after the pandemic has made it hard for the live venue to stay afloat. The venue had a net loss of $425,005 in its 2024 fiscal year, according to IRS filings.
The city gave Advance Redding a $675,000 lifeline in August, but the organization said it now needs more.
Council Member Tenessa Audette said she had hoped Advance Redding would offer more information on how it plans to get out of this hole.
“If we give you money, there is no guarantee that you’re gonna survive,” she said. “Is that a good use of funds when we’re in a tough situation? So I have sort of resigned myself that it’s going to be deficit spending.”
The city is facing its own financial challenges. Finance Director Greg Robinett said the city will have to make multimillion-dollar cuts every year to remain financially viable, so it isn’t an ideal time for the Civic Auditorium to ask for emergency funding.
“There’s going to be a negative impact somewhere,” said Council Member Erin Resner. “We haven’t made expenditures discussions, but we are going to have to make cuts.”
Those cuts will be more difficult now because the city has already cut in areas such as public safety. Audette said she’s not willing to go there again.
“I think part of why we are collectively here today is that our lease with the city set an expectation around how venues like this work that is wholly unique to that lease structure,” said Advance Redding General Manager Julie Dyar. “It does not exist anywhere else in the industry.”
Dyar said civic venues like this are not typically moneymakers for the city. The Civic Auditorium drew a profit because of its unique agreement with Bethel. The Lane Events Center in Eugene, which offers similar event rental spaces, doesn’t turn a profit on rentals alone. The county provides millions through the transient lodging tax. The Oregon Convention Center, Portland Expo Center and other city-owned performing arts venues also typically don't make much profit, if any.
Dyar said that Redding needs to reframe its relationship to the Civic Auditorium. While the auditorium may not make much money on its own, it brings in benefits in terms of tax revenue and drives people to local businesses.
“The bridal show alone fuels our local wedding industry economy,” said Paul David, who produces three annual trade shows at the auditorium. “Each wedding itself can generate over $40,000 of local spending across venues, hotels, restaurants, catering, rentals and related services.”
Advance Redding said the auditorium generates more than $84 million a year in economic impact. They added that mothballing a major events venue on the Redding riverfront, as the city is working on a plan to reinvigorate the area, would hamper those efforts.
“In our downtown specific plan, it never contained, ‘Let's close venues,’” said John Truitt from Viva Downtown. “We wanted a place where there were places to gather, where there were places where people could be entertained. It happened because we developed those spaces, and you have a space right now.”
City council members always seemed ready to fund the auditorium; it was just a matter of how much. Ultimately, they decided to provide Advance Redding with four months of funding, totaling $464,000, paid in monthly installments. That money is coming from the proceeds of land sales in the future Stillwater Business Park, which the city is developing.
But the money comes with strings attached. Advance Redding will need to provide financial reports to the city. They will also need to develop a business plan to present to the city in three months. Mayor Mike Littau will also be appointed as a nonvoting member of the Advance Redding board to provide input to the group and report back to the city council on its actions.
In May, the city council will look at what’s been done and decide on next steps, which could include additional funding. Audette had recommended the city renegotiate its contract with Visit Redding and allocate some of the city’s transient occupancy tax towards the Civic Auditorium, which is how cities like Eugene and Portland subsidize their venues.
