The Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust voted Monday to officially start negotiations with the City of Tulsa on an agreement to manage the PAC.
Talks begin next week, with the trust favoring a 25-year contract starting July 1, 2019. City officials and trust members expect it will be structured similarly to agreements the city has for management of the Tulsa Zoo and Gilcrease Museum.
"If I know for the next 25 years that we are getting X amount yearly so that I can operate the facility and then I can project out what earned revenue will be, what production revenue will be, what rental fees — all the things that go into how we operate our building — that gives us long-term stability," said PAC Trust CEO and PAC Director Mark Frie.
Besides members, the PAC Trust will be represented during the talks by legal counsel and Tom Baker, the former Tulsa fire chief who led the Tulsa Zoo management transition.
The PAC Trust is also going in with a five-year financial forecast to help set the price for managing the facility.
"Part of the long-range plan also is making sure that we can forecast out what the needs of our patrons and the needs of groups that use our building — like the opera, the ballet, the symphony — and make sure that we can continue to offer world-class service," Frie said.
The trust’s ability to independently fundraise for improvements that would benefit PAC users is a factor in the decision to have it run the facility.
The agreement will come with some trade-offs; for example, once it is in effect, PAC staff will no longer be city employees.
"The municipal retirement plan is certainly a perk of being a City of Tulsa employee, but we’ve got a great team in place that will get the best benefits that we possibly can, and we will create ways that we can make sure that our employees know that they’re valued," Frie said.
Frie said he wants a chief financial officer in place before the agreement’s anticipated start date.
