The financial situation surrounding the Redding Civic Auditorium is looking dire, but city councilmembers are still keen to find a way to save the dying entertainment center.
At the Jan. 20 city council meeting, Mayor Pro Tempore Erin Resner and councilmember Tenessa Audette presented an update on the city’s discussions with Advance Redding, tenant and operator of the auditorium. Resner and Audette are members of an ad hoc committee designated to correspond with Advance Redding and other community leaders to find a way to fund the auditorium’s operations. The presentation led to a broader discussion about options to move forward.
According to Audette, the committee has not been able to find a long-term solution “outside of a fairy godmother.”
At the meeting, Audette said that Advance Redding needs between $1.4 and $1.6 million in additional funding to keep the Civic running annually. Advance Redding has asked the city to pitch in, given the auditorium’s value as a community space and it’s ability to generate city revenue through tourism, but according to Audette, Redding is unable to provide the full amount due to current budget constraints.
The committee has met with outside organizations and individuals to secure alternative funding options, but according to Resner “it doesn’t feel like, at least at this point in time, that there has been anybody community-wise who is willing to help in that gap funding space.”
As the situation currently stands, the Civic will cease operations by the end of February, and is seeking gap funding of $116,000 per month to keep the facility open until the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Resner and Audette said that the council is unable to make recommendations for funding options until they hear presentations on revenue assumptions for the coming year. Because of this delay, Audette said the city is looking to secure outside funding to operate the facility for the month of March, but predicts that the city would be able to come up with the funds to keep it open for April, May and June.
Julie Dyar, general manager of Advance Redding, expressed doubt over the long-term effectiveness of such a solution, saying that even closing for the month of March would have the same “net effect” as full closure due to the time it would take to “ramp that programming back up.”
Eric Hiatt, Advance Redding’s board president, also doubted the possibility of securing substantial amounts of funding from a third party due to Advance Redding’s status as a tenant.
“Most big nonprofits that invest in things like this, like Turtle Bay or some of these other things, they don’t want to invest in the month to month operations, they want to invest more into owning property or growing assets on that property,” said Hiatt.
As for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, which begins in July, Audette said the city could theoretically utilize $675,000 in taxes generated from tourism to fund the Civic. When asked whether this would be sufficient to keep the Civic open for the next year, Dyar responded:
“There is a willingness on this part to get you an answer but to answer it right now, because there’s been a request from council to relook at our business model and to, in good faith, to do good pro formas, to be able to truly answer your question that takes time.”
Vice Mayor Dr. Paul Dhanuka emphasized that cultural centers like the Civic Auditorium make up the “soul of a city” and that all options should be explored before shuttering the facility. Dhanuka proposed a potential solution in which the city would offer to pay approximately half of the funds needed to keep the Civic open as a show of support in hopes of attracting donors to cover the rest of the costs.
Mayor Mike Littau held firm that he is “not going to let (the Civic Auditorium) close” and will be looking to shift money around during the upcoming budget allocation meetings to keep the facility open.
Redding community services director Travis Menne also gave a presentation at the meeting detailing the costs the city would incur in closing the facility.
One-time costs would include boarding up the structure and purchasing fencing for the perimeter, amounting to approximately $70,000.
Ongoing costs include security, utilities, maintenance and loss of sales taxes and taxes generated by tourism, amounting to about $1.24 million annually.
The council ultimately decided to forego rent on the Civic for the next six months, and directed staff to bring back short-term solutions and long-term discussion topics.
In the summer of 2025, Advance Redding — tenant and operator of the Redding Civic Auditorium — approached Redding City Council to plea for a lifeline, citing the difficulties of turning a profit in the entertainment venue industry and the city’s atypical lease agreement with Advance Redding as the primary reasons for their financial struggles. The city granted the operator $675,000 to remain in operation for the remainder of 2025, and has since begun meetings with Advance Redding to reevaluate the current lease agreement.
Drew Askeland covers Redding and Shasta County government issues, as well as anything else that needs reporting for the Record Searchlight and USA Today Network. Reach him at drew.askeland@redding.com or (530) 225-8247. Please subscribe today to support our newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Will the Civic close in 2026? Redding council holds out hope for funds
Reporting by Drew Askeland, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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