PROVIDENCE — The public agency that owns the state’s convention center and largest sports arena is considering a plan that would give it control over the historic Veterans Memorial Auditorium, a major expansion of its authority during a period of consolidation in state government.

The deal would be a reversal for the state, which had been trying to unload the aging performance hall on the small nonprofit group that operates it, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium Foundation.

The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority says it could increase ticket sales at the VMA through better marketing and by scheduling events that have appeal beyond the fine arts audience. But that opportunity would come at a cost: the VMA runs a $300,000 annual deficit, and the foundation says it needs $5 million in improvements.

In 2004, the state agreed to hand over the VMA to the foundation by July 1 of this year, freeing taxpayers of subsidies that pay the performance hall’s heat, water and electricity bills and provide for maintenance costs. Struggling to close a projected state budget deficit estimated as high as $450 million for the next fiscal year, lawmakers are considering deep cuts to social-service programs.

But as the July deadline approached, those involved in the deal began to question its merits, according to David A. Duffy, chairman of the Convention Center Authority board. Fearing that the foundation could not afford to operate and grow the facility, supporters of the arts, the governor’s office and foundation officials asked the authority to step in.

“The Rhode Island arts community has been all over us, urging us to look at this,” Duffy said yesterday. “It’s undermarketed and it could be in financial trouble when the state turns it over to the foundation.”

Today, the authority will request proposals from consultants to study the potential acquisition. Bids are due March 25.

Direct state involvement in the VMA would not be new. The state has owned the building since 1928, when the Masons abandoned it before completing construction. After World War II, the state finished the hall, inaugurating it in 1950 with a performance of Beethoven by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

After decades of neglect, the state again invested in the structure in the late 1980s, spending about $6 million for repairs.

In 1992, however, it began to loosen its ties, leasing the hall, for $1 per year, to the foundation. In 2004, the state agreed to upgrade the fire-safety equipment and repair the leaky roof in preparation for its transfer. This summer, the foundation was to fully leave the nest.

Tereann Greenwood, the foundation’s executive director, says the hall would not go dark if state support ended. The building includes three floors of office space that could be leased to cover utility costs, she said.

Since the 2004 agreement, fundraising has improved, Greenwood said. The foundation recently raised $1 million to refurbish the seats and the cement floors. Using $480,000 in revenue and $320,000 in donations, the group pays six employees and covers all other annual operating costs.

But running the VMA has grown more difficult, as the slowing economy has hurt ticket sales and weakened fundraising. Without state support, Greenwood said, there would be little opportunity for major improvements, such as new windows, new heating and cooling systems, a loading dock, elegant dressing rooms and function space.

“This is a changed landscape. This is a changed economy. A lot of things have changed since 2004,” said Greenwood, who has run the foundation since 1997. “This is quite an antiquated facility. There has been a lot of deferred maintenance. There is a need for a lot of investment.”

The Convention Center Authority has played a similar role in the past. Three years ago, it bought the Dunkin’ Donuts Center from the City of Providence, paying $28.5 million for the property and an additional $80.5 million for a renovation project scheduled to end in December.

Like the VMA, the civic center needed repairs and attendance growth. Authority officials say it will soon pay for its operating costs after years of deficits.

But the convention center, built in 1993, is still deeply in the red, if debt service for construction is considered. In all, taxpayers pay $23 million a year to repay debts incurred for the building of the convention center, the purchase of the arena and the renovation project.

The authority does not expect the VMA to be self-sufficient, either.

“A facility like that cannot be wholly bottom-line driven,” James P. McCarvill, the authority’s executive director, said. “It wasn’t built to generate a profit. The main reason you build a performance arts space is to house performance art.”

At 1,800 seats, the VMA provides a space for operatic, philharmonic and ballet performances that could not fill the Providence Performing Arts Center or other large venues.

The VMA’s finances, McCarvill said, would improve under the authority’s ownership. If it took over, he said, the authority would probably hire a management firm to operate and market the VMA, as it has done at the convention center and civic center.

The new owners would also alter the performance lineup, according to Robert G. Flanders Jr., a former state Supreme Court justice and the chairman of the foundation’s board. Between Festival Ballet and Rhode Island Philharmonic shows, patrons may see rock concerts, Broadway musicals or stand-up comedy.

“We are trying to do the best job we can for the VMA,” Flanders said. “It seemed natural to explore what sort of ways we could work together.”

The foundation, Flanders said, would not be disbanded if the authority gained control.

The VMA could use a boost. Despite the opening of the Marriott Renaissance hotel on the other side of the Masonic Temple, only 75 percent of the VMA’s performance dates are booked. Annual attendance is about 100,000, including high school graduations and student performances.

Last year, the foundation discontinued discounts it had offered to performing groups that could not afford the $2,500 rental rate.

“It’s a beautiful stage for dance, but it’s empty a lot,” Mark Fleisher, a Festival Ballet spokesman, said. “Except for the regulars, it’s a rental hall. People aren’t so used to going to the theater.”

bgedan@projo.com