The future of the Redding Civic Auditorium is in limbo after the City Council rejected a plan to give its operator, Advance Redding, a five-month, $400,000 lifeline to keep its doors open.
The council voted unanimously at its Tuesday, May 19 meeting to send out a request for proposals (RFP) for a new operator to take over the 56-year-old events and entertainment center.
But the council also voted not to give Advance Redding five equal payments of $80,000 a month starting July 1 and ending in November while the city is searching for a new operator.
Mayor Mike Littau said before the meeting there was a good chance the council would table the Civic agenda item.
“We thought the item was going to get pulled. I think It was later determined we need to plan and go forward with the RFP, (and) there wasn’t going to be funding for the Civic,” Littau said Wednesday morning, May 20.
The city still owes the nonprofit one more payment of $116,000 from the $464,000 of stopgap funding that the council approved in February.
Last summer, the city also granted Advance Redding $675,000 to remain in operation for the remainder of 2025 and then started discussions around reevaluating the group’s lease agreement.
Tickets to 2026 live shows at Civic still being sold
In a letter to the council prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Redding Civic general manager Julie Dyar made it clear what happens if the city does not approve the latest round of funding.
No funding beyond June means “Advance Redding begins an orderly shutdown process beginning this week. All events after the (July 4) Freedom Festival are cancelled,” she stated.
Does that mean the 16 shows scheduled to take place at the Civic from June 8 through Nov. 14 won’t happen? Tickets for those shows have been on sale for some time. Acts like Earth, Wind & Fire (Sept. 9), Chicago (Sept. 21), Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo (Oct. 4) and Bonnie Raitt (Oct. 7) are on the docket.
Dyar did not reply to a phone message or email sent Wednesday morning seeking comment. By Wednesday afternoon, she released a statement on behalf of Advance Redding, confirming it will start the process of transitioning the venue back to the city.
“Serving this community through the Civic Auditorium has been an honor,” Advance Redding board president Eric Hiatt said in the statement. “We are incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and remain hopeful about the role the Civic will continue to play in serving the community.”
Hiatt also did not reply to a phone message or text sent Wednesday morning seeking comment.
Dyar in the statement said Advance Redding is “assessing the details and timing of this transition and expects to announce further information next week, including impacts to any affected future events.”
Littau emphasized to the Record Searchlight on Wednesday that the council did not vote to close the Civic. But he knows the facility’s future at this point is unclear.
Should no entity make a proposal to operate the Civic, Littau said he sees the city stepping in in some way to keep it open.
“The way I see this as the best (scenario), we may not have Advance Redding there to run concerts or host concerts, but there should be a pathway. If any promoter wants to rent the facility or do a concert, we (the city) should be able to rent out the facility and have a promoter do a concert there,” Littau said.
“We did not vote to close it, and it is the intention of council to find a way to keep the Civic open for the community,” he added.
Littau also said he does not want Advance Redding to use the last payment of $116,000 toward winding down its operation. He would like the nonprofit to use the money to finish the fall season of live shows it has booked.
“I am sure conversations will happen, ‘We will give the last payment if they finish the fall schedule,’“ he said.
Littau said the city has been assured that the annual State of the City in September will happen this year at the Civic. Also, the Civic will still be a community venue for the inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California in August.
Too, Littau said the city wants to keep the Civic open for other community events like Kool April Nites, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament, home & garden shows, and for local church groups.
“I’m sure we will be presented with a budget of what it will cost for this to fall to the city to keep it open,” he said.
Will Advance Redding apply to be Civic operator again?
The RFP for a new Civic operator will go out in early June, but Littau is pessimistic there will be any interest.
“If I’m being frank, we don’t expect anybody to respond,” Littau said.
Community Services Director Travis Menne said typically the city circulates an RFP for 30 days. At a later date, he will present to council a budget to maintain the Civic during the RFP process.
But Menne said he first needs to know when Advance Redding will close the facility. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had not heard from anyone at Advance Redding.
If nobody responds to the RFP, then Menne could return to council with a budget for the city to manage and operate the Civic. But Menne said that would be at the direction of council.
Redding City Manager William Tarbox did not return two phone messages seeking comment.
Advance Redding, meanwhile, will not be responding to the RFP. Before Tuesday’s meeting, the council expected the nonprofit to make a pitch to keep operating the facility. But in her letter, Dyar stated that won’t happen.
“We also want to be candid about timing. If Council proceeds under the assumption that Advance Redding could revisit discussions at a later date should an RFP fail to generate viable responses, that opportunity will no longer exist,” she wrote. “Not due to a lack of willingness, but because operational decisions, staffing impacts, and industry realities create constraints that become impossible to unwind once set in motion.”
Hiatt was appointed board president in January. At the time, the nonprofit said the well-known local developer and entrepreneur has proposed “new business plans, broader community engagement” and a route to long-term financial stability for the auditorium, in collaboration with the special Redding City Council Civic ad hoc committee led by Councilmembers Tenessa Audette and Erin Resner.
Megachurch Bethel Church created Advance Redding in 2011 to take over operations of the unprofitable Civic Auditorium, which the city had been eyeing for closure. Located just off the Sacramento River near Turtle Bay Exploration Park, the city-owned auditorium is the region’s only 2,000-seat indoor venue.
Record Searchlight reporter Michele Chandler contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Advance Redding reacts to city denying Civic Auditorium $400K lifeline
Reporting by David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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