The Englert

A number of years ago, I joined a group determined to save the last theater in downtown Iowa City - the Englert. It had been turned into a movie theater at some point in the 80s, I believe, but before that it was a live performance space. When word came that it might turn into yet another bar in a downtown littered with them, members of the business and arts community rose up and decided to fight for one of the last bastions of culture in Iowa City. Early on in that fight, the Iowa City Community Theatre donated $40,000 and gave the Englert the use of its non-profit status so it could accept tax deductible donations immediately. These two actions were important to get the ball rolling. The agreement, according to many ICCT members, myself included, was that in exchange we'd get to use theater for a small fee, that rent would be waived, and about $2 from each ticket sold would be donated to the Englert.

Fast forward a few years and we find out that this early agreement is not going to be honored. Here's an article from the Gazette that explains the situation.

As the article states, a number of ICCT members and patrons gave money to the Englert project with the expectation that ICCT would be allowed to use the space. I was one of those individuals. My wife and I also donated a lot of time early on in the project.

The early dream of the Englert was to make it a community performance space. There are so many talented artists in this community. Imagine how many of us felt when it was announced that the first production in the Englert would be a Nebraska community theatre production. Huh? Does the Englert really think they have to go to Nebraska to find quality productions? This is Iowa and we have arts and culture right here that we can proud of.

To put it simply, I feel betrayed by the Englert Civic Theatre. I hope they work out some sort of deal with ICCT and it appears they are trying to do so. Kudos to them for them not completely ignoring those concerns. But the fact is there may always be a bad taste in the mouths of many ICCT supporters because of what the Englert has done. That's a shame.