Community Theatre League to move out of 3rd floor space
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The city solicitor has told Community Theatre League to vacate the third floor office space of the Joseph McDade Trade and Transit Centre I due to an unsigned lease stemming from the city's prior administration, according to city officials.
The non-profit theater group allegedly paid River Valley Transit close to $200,000 in rent to lease the third floor office space of Trade and Transit Centre I, a building at the corner of West Third and Pine streets owned by the city's bus and transit service.
While the group was told to vacate the third floor, it can remain in the first floor and basement of the Trade and Transit Centre I.
"We paid close to $200,000 in rent for the third floor for four years, 10 months," said Seth Sponhouse, executive director of the Community Theatre League.
City Council never formally signed a lease for use of the third floor for five years.
"Knowing what we know, I can't allow the city to be held liable for a lease agreement that was not officially signed," Mayor Derek Slaughter said.
"I did not tell them to leave and I am not blaming CTL," he said. "This is a matter of the prior administration that did not follow the proper process."
"Legally," Slaughter said, "they can't be on the third floor and never were supposed to be for the past five years."
"Thankfully, nothing happened in that time or the city could have been sued to the hills," Slaughter said.
Documentation has been forwarded to the state Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration for review, Slaughter said.
The building was constructed in large part using PennDOT and FTA dollars.
"This particular issue is unfortunately affected by the ongoing RVT investigation since that building was constructed with transportation money," said City Council President Randall J. Allison.
Slaughter said if CTL was paying rent and there was no formal lease agreement, "we might owe that back."
The third floor was used by the administration. It held the office of the general manager, technical director, educational coordinator and space for workshops and educational programming, he said.
The league signed a lease in 1999 with the city for 29 years to be on the first floor of the Trade and Transit I. It remained in the bottom floor, with its theater-in-the-round.
"Three productions are underway and rehearsals will take place," Sponhouse said. "We're also prepping for summer camp."