R.I. panel defers decision on VMA, citing new info

PROVIDENCE – At the request of the petitioners, the R.I. State Properties Committee this morning delayed a decision on the transfer of Veterans Memorial Auditorium to the R.I. Convention Center Authority (RICCA), in order to give all parties time to consider last-minute changes proposed by the adjacent Renaissance Providence Hotel.

“These documents went through numerous edits and changes, and we discovered this morning that we need even more changes,” Michael D. Mitchell, deputy chief of legal services for the R.I. Department of Administration, told the committee today.

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At Mitchell’s request, the committee agreed to postpone a decision until a special meeting set for 10 a.m. next Tuesday, July 29, at the administration department on Smith Street.

Mitchell, who apologized to the committee, said the hotel owners in Colorado forwarded the terms of their approval to the state last night, a turn of events that meant property committee members and the state attorney general’s office would not have time to adequately review the changes before this morning’s proposed approval. “Unfortunately,” Mitchell told the panel, “the more attorneys involved, the more opinions there are, and the more changes that need to be made.”

“We have no difficulty with what the hotel is proposing,” RICCA’s executive director, James P. McCarvill, told Providence Business News after the meeting. He said the proposed changes would not significantly affect the existing plan, which calls for RICCA to take over the historic theater near the R.I. State House as of Aug. 1.

The Convention Center Authority intends to have two professional management groups share the burden of operating the theater, at an estimated annual cost of $150,000. The two management groups – Philadelphia-based SMG and Providence-based Professional Facility Management Inc. – currently operate the R.I. Convention Center and the Providence Performing Arts Center, respectively. (READ MORE)

The Renaissance Providence’s approval of the plan is required because the hotel is physically connected to the auditorium.

Bruce A. Leach, a lawyer with DeSimone & Leach in Providence, who represents the Convention Center Authority, said the hotel owners want to make certain that their approval of the takeover at this time will not prevent them from filing objections in the future about other aspects of the change. The hotel’s stand, Leach said, presents absolutely no threat to the takeover agreement.

The Veterans Memorial Auditorium Foundation – a nonprofit that has operated the state-owned theater since 1992 under a $1 annual lease – asked the RICCA to consider the takeover, VMAF Chairman Robert G. Flanders Jr. said in an interview Monday. That possibility had first been raised by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, Flanders said.

The idea came after the state asked the VMAF to absorb $300,000 in auditorium expenses from the previous fiscal year. “It was enough for the foundation to realize it would have to significantly expand [bookings] if it wanted to make a go of it,” Flanders said, and that made the potential merger with PPAC and RICCA an attractive possibility. It is not clear yet what will happen to the foundation if the agreement is approved, although Flanders said it might remain in existence as a fundraising or support group.

Flanders called the auditorium a “beautiful venue” and “prime asset” for the state, saying that the state takeover would “enhance” the VMA and its ability to serve the community.

The Veterans Memorial Auditorium is an historic, 1,900-plus seat theater at One Avenue of the Arts (formerly Brownell Street) in downtown Providence. For more information, including a calendar of upcoming events, visit www.VMAri.org or call the VMA Event Line at 272-4VMA.

The R.I. Convention Center Authority, established by the R.I. General Assembly in 1987, manages and operates the R.I. Convention Center, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center-Providence and related facilities, including the Convention Center parking garage. To learn more, visit www.RIConvention.com.