Simi Valley Cultural Center Seeking Big Donor

The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center needs 10 times its current endowment to eventually become independent of city subsidies, according to city and arts officials.

The foundation that supports the 240-seat center’s activities wants to raise a $2-million endowment to sustain operations, but just $207,000 has been collected so far, said Diane Jones, the city’s director of community services.

“Until you get a really big donation, it’s really difficult,” said Mayor Bill Davis, who serves on the city’s Arts Commission. “We need to get that first big donation.”

The foundation plans a May 11 dinner and silent auction to honor Davis for his service to the center. Organizers hope the event will raise $100,000 for the foundation, said Councilwoman Barbra Williamson, another arts commissioner.

But if the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation ever wants to reach its endowment goal, Williamson said, it must find grants and major donors who want to see their names on the facility. “It’s not going to be done by fund-raisers,” she said.

To help increase the 7-year-old center’s financial independence and reduce bureaucracy, the City Council on March 4 agreed to change its financial structure.

Under the previous arrangement, the city paid the salaries of the center’s three full-time employees, and the center reimbursed the city for that amount through ticket sales, Jones said. The city also paid for some improvements, including new microphones and a new lighting board.

Under a new three-year plan, the city will continue to pay the workers’ salaries, without reimbursement. In exchange, the city will receive 10% of the net ticket sales--estimated at about $15,000 a year--and the center will be responsible for buying its own equipment.

“They can’t come to us for nickel-and-dime stuff,” Williamson said.

Even with these changes, the center’s struggle for financial independence from the city is just beginning, Davis said.

“Do I expect the center to be self-sufficient in a year or two years?” he asked. “No, I don’t.”

During the next few months, the center plans to focus on attracting an audience from outlying areas of Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley, said David Ralphe, general manager of the center at 3050 Los Angeles Ave. “We have not been able to effectively market outside this region,” he said.

The center will use mailings and cable television advertising to draw people to the more than 400 events it holds each year. Also, Simi Valley residents will receive information about the center with their water bills. Some real estate agents include information about the center in the welcome packets they provide to new residents.

The need to draw new visitors has been especially important since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Ralphe said. During November, December and January, the center saw a 34% drop in attendance. Nevertheless, the center still had its best year ever in 2001, with a 4% increase in attendance from 2000.

To get back on track, the center has targeted March through July as a time to expand attendance. It is staging four productions--”The Wiz,” “1776,” “Oliver!” and “Footloose”--designed to draw new audiences to the center.

Ralphe said he hopes to post an 8% increase over last year’s attendance of 38,000.