Capitol Follies

No, that is not the name of the first theatrical performance to take place at the reopened Capitol Theatre. Rather, it seems to be the name of what is taking place at the Theatre.

After so much time, all of a sudden the Trustee is prepared to reopen it. At the same time, instead of there being negotiations to settle the dispute between the Trustee and the City now that the Capitol has a new Board, we read about the litigation between the parties with the thousands in legal fees being spent.

I guess the important question for the creditors will be if the City wins, will the City still pay off their indebtedeness as it was going to do before or will the City wipe them out?

Here is what is really bugging me about all of this. I don't understand it. The City knew everything there was to know about the Capitol a year ago, seemed to have a process in place with the Board at the time to take it over and then the whole thing fell apart. Then months pass and out of the blue the Theatre is reopened. Why the big delay... the Mayor said this:

• "But the trustee's claim angered Francis, who countered the theatre has remained closed because it was deemed to have been a fire hazard after inspectors learned sprinklers were not operating during the Les Miserables performances.
  
  "They were told they could not have more shows until the deficiency was corrected," the mayor said. "That's why there hasn't been any other shows. You can't have shows in a theatre if it's a fire trap.
  
  "(Funtig) is in control of the theatre. He was told once that was corrected he could have as many shows as he wanted."

I have some questions: is this deficiency now corrected, and if so, why did it take so long to do so? Why couldn't it have been done when the Trustee took over? Why did it happen just before the Court date in January? Why would the Trustee correct it now if he might lose the theatre in a few short days? If the City changed its position on the deficiency, why did it take so long for it to do so?

However, as we have learned, nothing is simple in Windsor-land. Here is what one of my readers wrote to me about the so-called fire hazard:

• "Ed the Capitol was never a fire hazard. The main shut off valve was replaced over a year ago to safeguard the system. The entire system was inspected by Grinnel prior to the Les Miserables performance and received an OK. The Fire Dept. inspected it before Les Mis and said it was OK for the show but would not approve it for permanent use. Who knows why the Fire Dept. took a firm stand even though the sprinkler "deficiencies" were included in the annual inspection for about 10 years. The two deficiencies were in fact common sense items which past Fire Inspectors realized were code requirements but did not provide any practical protection and perhaps could be a hazzard if impemented... Who knows what the underlying intentions of the City are."

Do you remember this comment that Gord Henderson made in one of his columns in September 2006:

• "Could the $400-million Casino Windsor addition be the elephant in the living room that everyone involved in the arena debate is choosing to ignore?
  
  Call me a raving conspiracy theorist but I have a sneaky suspicion that assurances given to OLG, formerly the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, prior to its Valentine's Day, 2005 casino expansion announcement, could be a key factor in this struggle over who gets to build a replacement for Windsor Arena.
  
  I was told months ago that the city persuaded the province to go bigger than it originally intended -- a 100,000-square-foot convention centre and a 5,000-seat entertainment facility -- by agreeing to get out of the convention business and not compete with the new facility.
  
  A big part of that was fulfilled with the decision to take the Cleary out of the convention business and transfer the building to St. Clair College."

Could the Capitol Theatre be part of this as well? What a foolish thought you might think. Let me give you some evidence that suggests it may not be so silly and that the end result may well be that the Theatre is going be given to St. Clair College in exactly the way the Cleary was given to them. I heard that rumour a long time ago.

Here are some facts for you to consider:

• the Casino expansion was to have been completed in 2007 but now will not be done until 2008. During most of 2007, the Capitol was dark and no entertainment events took place there to compete against the Casino and take business from them.
• just so you don't forget, a new part of the Casino is the "New 5,000-seat auditorium/theatre"
• at one time, the Capitol could compete against the Casino for acts. In 2004, the Star wrote: "We crave celebrities even if they're nobodies. Through knock-off acts, which are on the rise judging not only by their success at festivals across the continent but at the Capitol Theatre and Casino Windsor in particular, we get much of the same fun ... for a fraction of the cost." (Note, back in 2001, the Star also wrote: "Casino Windsor rates an A for its productions, to the point that the various impersonator shows have cut into the Capitol Theatre's revenue from similar programs.")
• in 2005, Capitol general manager Patricia Warren said "the theatre's economic woes stem from an increasing reliance on unpredictable bingo revenues and growing competition from casino expansion on both sides of the border."
• Councillor Halberstadt said "I don't see it continuing to do what it's doing now. It can't really compete against the Chrysler Theatre. Or with Casino Windsor coming on board in 2008 with a 5,000-seat theatre, the Capitol gets relegated to the undercard. "
• Henderson stated "Now the city must find a way to reinvent the Capitol and get it off the backs of taxpayers. That won't be easy. There's already stiff competition for entertainment dollars, especially from Detroit, and it will get tougher still when Caesars Windsor opens its big-name entertainment palace next year. "
• The Capitol's three theatres held 703, 235 and 130 seats. The Casino's Showtime Lounge held 232 seats and booked big-name acts , the Promenade Ballroom can hold up to 930 people while Melodies held the fewest number (Cosmos now holds 100 people)
• Even Sam Schwartz got into the act: "As part of the New Casino Windsor project, Sam Schwartz of Canada, Ltd. (SSC) developed a simulation technique to demonstrate the flow of pedestrians exiting the planned 5,000-seat entertainment centre."

This will all play itself out in a few weeks. What a drama. If it were not so tragic, it would be a comedy.