The New Bedford City Council voted Thursday night to restore $495,000 in city funds to the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center.
The money had been cut from the city budget during a marathon council meeting in June.
The 102-year-old city-owned theater is in the middle of a $37 million renovation. According to Zeiterion CEO Rosemary Gill, if the city had cut the funding it was possible that construction would have had to stop and the building could have remained closed indefinitely. Gill said Thursday she was “greatly relieved and thrilled” that the funding was restored.
During Thursday’s council meeting, some councilors expressed concern that they weren’t getting enough information about how the Zeiterion was spending the city’s money. Councilor Derek Baptiste said that he wants Gill to speak to the council on the record.
“I think that it’s worth a conversation,” he said during a 30-minute debate on the funding. “I don’t think that it’s going to hurt anybody to have a conversation and go on record to say what they’re going to do to support the community if the community’s gonna support them.”
Reached by phone after the vote, Gill said she was happy to speak in front of the council and “explain how their investment is working for the city. So yes, I’m more than willing to do that and will welcome the invitation.”
Some councilors acknowledged that the Zeiterion, often known as ‘The Z,’ has a positive impact on the restaurants downtown, but they felt that it wasn’t serving all of New Bedford. During debate, Councilor Brian Gomes asked, “ I just wanted to know with the sinking of money, like ARPA money of the city of New Bedford and other monies that continue to go into the ‘Z,’ what can I get for the less fortunate that never get to see the inside of the ‘Z?’ Never get to see that magical room that many people see? That’s all I wanted to do and I want them questions answered.”
The Zeiterion has many educational programs for children and adults, Gill said. The theater offers discounted tickets for matinee shows for area school children and for some mainline program shows, the theater participates in the Massachusetts “EBT Card to Culture” program for SNAP recipients. “Anyone from our community who has an EBT card or similar can purchase tickets for $5, and often those tickets are much higher than that,” Gill said.
The appropriation for funding for the Zeiterion passed on a 7 to 4 vote.
