The Zeiterion Theatre opened in 1923 as the State Theater, a lavish vaudeville and movie house. It hosted the 1956 premiere of “Moby Dick” with the movie’s star, Gregory Peck, in attendance.
But by the late 1970s and early 80s, the theater was in decline. Paragon Travel used part of it for office space, but proposed tearing down the building in favor of a parking lot for their tour buses. Instead, in the early 1980s, the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE) raised money to renovate the theater, and ownership was soon transferred to the city.
Now it hosts up to 75 performances a year, featuring theater, dance, comedy and touring musicians of nearly every genre. It’s also the home of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and the Festival Theater company.
But last month, the city council unexpectedly voted to zero out the city’s contract with The Zeiterion Theater Inc., the non-profit that the city contracts with to operate and maintain the theater. A seven-year contract was approved last September.
At the city council meeting on June 24, Councilor Maria Giesta spoke in favor of the cut, which amounts to just under $584,000.
“When are they going to start giving back to the city? When are they going to start paying their taxes? They don’t pay anything, because it’s always an excuse that the city owns the building,” Giesta said.
Giesta was one of six councilors who voted in favor of the cuts, with five opposed. I spoke with Council President Shane Burgo, who voted against the measure. He said he wasn’t surprised that the amendment to cut the budget was proposed, but he was surprised that it passed. He describes himself as a backer of the Zeiterion and disputes Councilor Giesta’s claim that the theater doesn’t give back.
“If you do look at what the Z and the Zeiterion Theater as a whole has offered in terms of economic development to the city, they have given back a lot,” he said.
The Zeiterion pays taxes on the concessions sold in the theater, and it brings people to downtown New Bedford for performances, many of whom spend money at nearby restaurants.
I spoke on the phone with Bob Unger, co-owner of Moby Dick Brewing Company, located a few blocks away from the Z. He says that you can see the difference downtown and in his restaurant whenever there’s a performance at the theater.
“If it’s a big name act, somebody that’s going to put in 800 or 1000 people, we’ll see a significant bump,” Unger said.
The Zeiterion says that it has a positive economic impact of $10 million for the city. But some city councilors don’t believe that the theater serves all of New Bedford.
“Don’t give me all this bullshit about what the Z does for downtown,” city councilor Linda Morad said at the June 24 council meeting. “On the nights there’s performances, people come here, and I’m glad that they do,” she added. “But I want you to go to Coggeshall Street or I want you to go to Cove Road. I want you to go to the North End, I want you to go to the West End. Find a person in a restaurant who is going to the Z on a performance night. The answer is no.”
Rosemary Gill is the CEO of Zeiterion Theater Inc., the nonprofit that runs the theater. She told me she disputes the idea that the theater is just for out-of-towners.
“We track ticket buyers and we track the zip codes. On any given night, the audience is, without exception, primarily from New Bedford,” Gill said.
She said they see audience members coming from every neighborhood in the city. In addition to the audiences for performances, Gill also told me about the many educational programs that the Zeiterion offers.
“We serve more than 20,000 school children per year, and that is learning outside of the classroom through the arts,” she said. “Additionally, we have programs that help learners of all ages, not just pre-K to 12, but college students and learners up to, you know, we have some students in their 80s that are learning an instrument for the first time, for example.”
The potential loss of 20% of the theater’s operating revenue comes at a particularly delicate time. The Zeiterion has been closed for the last year while it’s undergoing a $37 million renovation – the most significant renovations since it was revived in the 1980s.
On a recent visit to the site, Rosemary Gill gave me a tour of the changes that are underway there. All of the seats have been removed, a new concrete subfloor has been set, and the auditorium is filled with scaffolding as workers meticulously restore the decorative elements of the walls, including Greek-inspired figures dancing along the ceiling.
But the renovations aren’t just cosmetic. The theater was in serious need of structural repairs and updates, including plumbing, electrical, and ADA compliance. They’re also adding space for educational programs, and a speakeasy bar in the basement that can be used for community events. And they’ve expanded a key amenity.
“All new bathrooms on every single level,” Gill said. “That’s very important. Prior to this renovation, we had six toilets for women. We are a 1200-seat theater, so you can imagine how long our intermissions were just to accommodate that. So now we’re more than doubling that.”
Gill tells me that the renovation is largely funded with grants that will reimburse for the expenses.
“We did have to go out and get bridge loans from the bank, and that is based – as anyone knows who’s ever gotten a loan, that is based on your income,” she said.
And the money from the city is a large part of their income.
“If we can’t demonstrate that to the bank, then they’re likely to pull the loan,” Gill said. “ If the money is not restored, that will seriously put both the nonprofit Zeiterion Theater Inc. in peril, but it would likely put an end to the construction project. Certainly downtown New Bedford will have another building in blight. The construction will end. And it would be quite a blight on the city.”
I reached out to councilors Morad and Giesta to comment, but did not get a response. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell told me in a written statement that he finds it difficult to reconcile the city council’s decision to eliminate funding for the Z.
“No matter what, the failure to provide the Z with the support it needs is shortsighted,” he wrote. “We are committed to enabling the Z to complete its renovations and throw open its doors again.”
The cuts to the Zeiterion were just part of $10.2 million in cuts that the city council voted on in that marathon meeting in June. Last week, Mayor Mitchell sent several supplemental budget requests to the city council including restoring money to the Zeiterion. The original vote to cut the funding was six to five. Rosemary Gill is hopeful that at least one councilor will change their mind and restore the funding so that there is no threat to the renovations.
“ I’m so excited to just open those doors to the community and see the building as a community living room, which it can be,” Gill said. “Of course, we’ll have our wonderful legacy programs that the people know and love. But in addition, the new programmable spaces and how that will bring downtown alive and this region alive, and the access and the opportunities that it’ll bring people – I’m very, very excited about that.”
The city council is set to vote Thursday night on the mayor’s request to restore funding to the Zeiterion.
