By fundraising with A Community Thrives, TPAC can get money to support its operating budget and perhaps qualify for a grant to replace its stage curtains. Two birds. One Stone. But we need your help.
The TPAC stage curtains are an aesthetic focal point with each event, and they play an important technical role with set design in every production. The current stage curtains have been in use for the last 30 years. They are now thread bare and pose a problem when customizing their use for each event. The stage curtains are in dire need of being replaced with modern, fire-retardant materials and equipped with new modular installation mechanics. Fire-retardant technology has also improved in the last 30 years. Since many of the performers on the TPAC stage are children, the board is anxious to have the most fire-retardant materials possible to improve safety.
Efforts had started in late 2019 by the Board of Trustees to undertake a capital campaign to replace aging sound and light equipment, make other renovations to dressing rooms to improve their functionality and accessibility, and to update the aging, worn facility. The Covid-19 virus hit Topeka in early 2020 and the campaign was put on hold. The replacement of the curtains was a part of that campaign.
While TPAC could replace or rent other equipment, there is nowhere to obtain a mainstage curtain if it fails, other than to purchase a replacement. The cost is about $50,000.
The current fiscal condition is dire because the facility was closed in March 2020 and only limited engagements are permitted because of health restrictions on large gatherings due to the virus pandemic. Current fiscal projections are to have a deficit in 2020 of $128,753.
Fund-raising is a priority for operations to keep the facility open and staffed, even if at a minimal level. Theaters across the country are experiencing similar fiscal distress. The ability to qualify for a grant to replace all the theater curtains will be added motivation to do well in the crowd-funding component of the Community Thrives Challenge.