At the April 20 meeting of the Glendale City Council, the Council voted 3-2 in favor to select Glendale Arts as the entity with which to start negotiations for continued management of the Alex Theatre for a 10-year term.

According to Glendale Arts, following a national search only two other proposals were submitted; Mayor Paula Devine attributed the small number of proposals to the challenging financial landscape and extraordinary dedication that are required in managing a historical theatre.

“It was a long hard battle,” said Elissa Glickman CEO of Glendale Arts.

After an organizational assessment by the city, an RFP was issued. The competing bidders were SAS Entertainment and General Admission Venue and Production Management. From the dais, Glendale Arts received three votes of support from Mayor Paula Devine and Councilmembers Ardy Kassakhian and Dan Brotman, while Councilmembers Agajanian and Najarian abstained and voted “present,” respectively. Negotiations will begin over the next few weeks on the terms of the agreement. 

Glickman said that she and her staff, some of whom have been with the historic Alex Theatre since 1996, have been working on “exciting changes” at the theatre during COVID.

“We’ve added a new digital media department,” Glickman said giving a nod to the Ahmanson Foundation which provided grant money for the addition.

Glendale Arts also contracted with a company to geotarget patrons. The Alex Theatre will be able to notify ticketholders who attended one type of event of similar types of events and even offer special pricing or early purchasing.

Glickman said that the Alex Theatre, which has been at its location for nearly 100 years, looks forward to working with nearby partners to better the experience of ticketholders.

“We value cross promoting,” she said adding that offering menu information for nearby restaurants, for example, is an excellent way to raise the visibility of those businesses near the Alex Theatre.

Keeping the Alex Theatre solvent during the pandemic was a challenge in itself.

“In addition to leveraging our connections in anticipation of the reopening, we were sustained through (movie) filming,” Glickman said. She noted that though fundraising efforts were up by 40%, revenue, unsurprisingly, was down.

Though the decision has been made to remain with Glendale Arts as the managing company for the city-owned Alex Theatre, negotiations will begin in the next few weeks on hammering out the details for the contract. Ultimately Glickman said that it’s about preserving the integrity of the historic space.

“We’re looking for a 10-year contract with a 10-year renewal,” she said, “and we’re looking forward to our renewed partnership with the city.”