What To Do With the Varsity

Beth Curda's front-page article on March 6th in the Davis Enterprise ("City solicits ideas for using Varsity") seemed a bit premature. The Varsity Theater doesn't sit hollow and empty - at least, not yet. On the other hand, there is a lot of potential to have the Varsity become a true white elephant, dark and empty and right smack in the middle of downtown Davis' business district.

The City of Davis apparently still wants the Varsity to serve as the linchpin of an active downtown culture, in accordance with the vision of the Davis City Council in the early 90's:

The city is inviting proposals for developing and managing/operating the theater "as a high-quality arts and entertainment venue," a news release stated.

...The city wants to retain the Varsity "as a unique component" of the downtown area....

What hurts is that we at DMTC felt we had fulfilled that vision for use of the Varsity Theater. What apparently troubled the City was that we weren't pulling in enough money to make the Varsity self-sustaining, particularly with its pricey lease. As the article states:

But city leaders have said for a few years the downtown building is underutilized and they are looking for new ideas.

The City now owns the Varsity, and they haven't identified a group or business able to bring in enough money to fulfill their expectations. Nevertheless proposals for new uses are due by March 31st at the City Parks and Community Services Department.

As it always has, the City needs better marketing for the Varsity, particularly post-DMTC. The City may find that no particular demand for such a facility exists, at least at the prices clients might want to pay. But they'll never know unless they try! Soliciting proposals probably isn't going to be adequate by itself. The City has to MAKE it happen, by becoming even more active in soliciting businesses, and that means committing people and resources towards that goal.