The Avalon Foundation took a very modest but well-deserved institutional bow last Saturday night at a celebration with their top supporters. After months of severe anxiety that the 20-year-old arts nonprofit might lose its flagship performance center in downtown Easton, the Avalon used Saturday night to thank dozens of community donors who made sure that didn’t happen.
The source of this unexpected heartburn was the decision by the Town of Easton a few months ago that the municipality should not be in the business of owning a performance center. As a result, Easton officials sadly informed the Avalon that they had thirty days to vacate the building to prepare the property for its eventual sale.
The good news was the discovery within the existing lease agreement between the Avalon and the town that the arts organization had the right of first refusal in the event the property was to be sold. But the not so good news was that the Avalon board had only weeks to raise $400,000 to secure the title. While Talbot County prides itself on being a uniquely charitable community, trying to find a half a million dollars in less than a month would challenge even the largest nonprofit organizations on the Eastern Shore.
Adding to the unfolding drama was the fact that a private partnership of investors had been created to buy the building, and more surprisingly, the Avalon’s future had somehow become a politically debatable one, pitting profit against nonprofit business models in town public hearings.
And finally, the purchase price was only the beginning. After the sale, the Avalon Foundation would still need to find another $1.4 million for deferred maintenance costs.
It would have been a good time for a board of directors with less conviction to pull the plug on a project like this, but there is nothing like a crisis to test the maturity and sense of purpose of an organization. And the Avalon has passed that test with flying colors.
Within the tight window to raise the needed capital, Avalon board members and other friends of the organization not only raised the needed $400,000, but pledges actually came in at $600,000.
And while there remain many more dollars to be raised this year to repair the building, the Avalon leadership’s deserves the community’s heartfelt applause for not only saving the theater, which so many our downtown businesses rely on, but by reaffirming the Avalon Foundation’s mission and purpose to enrich Talbot County’s quality of life.
All residents of Talbot County can be grateful for that kind of special leadership.
Uta says
Thanks for finally talking about >Editorial:
The Avalon Takes a Bow <Liked it!