Arts Council of the Valley, a Harrisonburg-based nonprofit that sponsors the arts in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, announced that it would cease operations at Court Square Theater effective Dec. 31.
The Arts Council’s board of directors voted to shutter the theater due to the loss of local government funding since the COVID-19 pandemic and declining audience turnout.
Austin Sachs, board president of ACV, said investment from local governments decreased drastically over the past few years.
“We appreciate the many current demands on financial resources from the City and County; we are grateful for the support they are still able to provide,” Sachs said. “In the years since the pandemic, ACV has experienced substantially diminished funding from local governments. Since the 2020 fiscal year, we have lost a combined total of $371,450 from what had previously been level funding from the City and County.”
In addition, with audiences for films and live events shrinking across the country, Sachs said it was only a matter of time before the situation became unfavorable for Court Square Theater. While a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration provided some relief, the Arts Council had to turn to its reserve funds to keep the theater open once the grant funding was spent – a business model Sachs described as “unsustainable.”
“We finally reached the point where continuing to operate the theater would possibly endanger the core mission of ACV – to cultivate the arts, create experiences, and connect communities,” Sachs said. “That is what brought us to this extremely difficult decision.”
Jenny Burden, executive director for ACV, said the world has changed since the theater opened 27 years ago.
“That investment in the arts has really paid off,” Burden said. “One of the joys for people who have lived in the area a while has been to see performing arts venues, community theater groups, galleries, restaurants, hotels, and shops come to life. Over those years, though, the way the public experiences the performing arts has changed. This is a different world compared to 1998.”
The theater, initially managed by Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority and city staff, was opened in 1998 to support local performing arts. ACV, which was established in 2000 to support all forms of art in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, later took over the theater.
In addition to closing the theater, Burden said the Arts Council is preparing several internal cost-cutting measures to stabilize its finances. However, she said these are unlikely to affect ACV’s other programs, such as the Advancing the Arts grant series, First Fridays of the Valley, public art, and Smith House Galleries.