Jamestown Post Journal August 29, 1985
        The Post-Journal website:  http://post-journal.com/

Palace Civic Center Survives Series Of Ups And Downs
Special Report
By Mark Genovese

Editor's note: According to volunteers associated with Jamestown's Palace Civic Center, residents of this area are just beginning to see the facility as something separate from the old Palace Theater.  Just what are those residents discovering?  The following is the first article in a  series.
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   The fourth season of the Palace Civic Center at 116 E.  Third St. in Jamestown is about to  get under way.  There have been letdowns and there have been gratifying successes.  But most importantly, volunteers associated with the Palace say, there has been steady progress.

    Three current members of the Civic Center's board of directors and three members of the former Palace Management Committee recently shared their evaluation of the community project with The Post-Journal.

Meeting Expectations

   "We recognized when we started out that we would be fairly limited in what we could show," said John Sherwood, the Palace's former technical director.

    Carol Svenson-Smith, former public-relations chairwoman, noted: "It was a little hard to project at the time how the center project would be in five years.  At the time, the largest concern of those involved was to  save it."

    The idea of using an old theater like the Palace for a civic center - a place for plays, concerts, movies, meetings and a thousand others things - was new to the Jamestown community.

     "The optimum use of the facility had not jelled in our minds at the time," Ms. Svenson-Smith said.

    What did the community want?  At first, there were educated guesses, and trial and error.  "Some things worked, some did not," said board member James Walton.

    According to Gene Danielson, the former house manager, those responsible for the "new" Palace started with a realistic attitude.  There were no unreasonable expectations of success within a few short years, he said.  committee members knew the theater would not be filled every night from the start.

    Danielson said one or two years is not enough time to determine what type of seasonal programming works in any particular area.  At the start, he said, he figured the Palace would need a five-year development program, progressing a little bit each year.

    Programming committee Chairwomen Judith Claire said the Civic Center's "rapid" development has far exceeded her expectations.  She said that from the start the board members felt strongly about the center's possibilities.  She said they acted with a goal in mind: to sponsor a series of programs not available elsewhere in the Jamestown area.

    Julian Wright, chairman of the Palace board, said the board members always knew this would not be an extremely easy project to accomplish.  He acknowledged that attendance at certain shows fell below expectations, but said that has have been offset by those shows which turned out to be stronger attractions than planned.

    Programming

    Selecting shows which will generate an interest in the community is perhaps the greatest challenge the Palace's board members face.

    Programming Committee members try to select entertainment which is both popular and culturally beneficial. 

    Sherwood noted the Palace currently cannot support many of the top popular acts because it cannot pack in a large enough audience to pay for the show.  There is a "second tier" of entertainment, however, he said, and the Palace has done a pretty good job in obtaining it.

    Mrs. Svenson-Smith said of the audience for cultural presentations: "It may only be a segment, but it's a segment of the audience that needs to be served."

    "Listen, people turn out for the classical programs," Walton added.  The method of finding what the community wants must be one of trial and error, he said, and in the past few years the Civic Center's management has been able to narrow down its choices.

    At times, Walton said, the selection process has proved to be "a mystery."  He noted the board members once speculated that country-and-western shows would be popular, but those programs simply did not draw as well as expected.

    If the public wants popular artists such as those performing at Chautauqua, he said,, it will take a lot  of money.

    "If the community wants it, it will pay for it, but you have to be careful of the amount you can charge," he said.  The Palace cannot charge the same prices as those set in a  larger city, he said.  

    Danielson termed program selection a thankless job because one has to take into account many different tastes.

    Also to be taken into consideration is the suitability of the Civic Center for certain types of shows.  "Young people will come out for a rock concert," he said, "but is it worth the cost of the damage that might result?"

    The Palace has put special emphasis on children's programming, and that  has proved to be the most successful step so far, said Ms. Claire.  But there is a need in this area for programming of all  types, she said, and efforts are being made.

    Some survey information is being used to help determine what shows to present, Ms. Claire said.  Using a recent survey by Chautauqua Institution, for residents was the opera.  As a result, a performance by the San Francisco Opera Company has been scheduled for the upcoming Palace season, she said. 

    The public has responded enthusiastically to the larger commitments made by the Palace directors, she added.  The high attendance at the Mummenschanz shows in March is proof of that, she said.

    Mrs. Svenson-Smith said the board has been trying to find the "magic optimum programming" for the center. "Their effort, I'm sure, has been great, but they have not quite found the right balance yet ... it is a very elusive combination."

01/16/2004