Veterans Memorial Auditorium (right), and Renaissance Providence Hotel (left)

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THE PROPOSAL to transfer ownership of Veterans Memorial Auditorium to the Convention Center Authority is one we wholeheartedly support. This plan is critical to making VMA the truly lively, productive institution it should be, and to ensuring its long-term financial and physical stability. A strong and healthy VMA is critical to the growth and stability of the arts and cultural economy of the city and the state.

In the early 1990s, the establishment of the VMA Foundation saved the facility from a threatened demolition. The foundation’s generous donors kept the doors open and undertook initial renovations that enabled the hall to function again as a venue for the performing arts. And in the past few years, additional progress has been made in restoring VMA’s physical health and adding much-needed amenities. The significant improvements have included refurbished seats, the installation of elevators, and remodeled, accessible rest rooms. These, combined with the creation of an attractive and convenient plaza and the opening of the Renaissance Providence Hotel in the rebuilt Masonic Temple, have enhanced VMA’s attractiveness.

These changes to the physical fabric of VMA and its surroundings constitute an important beginning for one requirement for VMA to realize its purpose as a great community resource. But along with further renovation of the building, there should be ownership and management of VMA that is dedicated to cooperation with and support of local arts organizations and to an entrepreneurial spirit that will bring to our community the best in national and international touring performers.

An enlightened management of VMA will work with the Providence Performing Arts Center and the local nonprofit performing arts organizations to ensure flexible scheduling, effective marketing, and a commitment to customer service. And an entrepreneurial management will work with for-profit presenters and touring attractions to identify and host performances that will complement rather than compete with local arts groups. Additionally, the facility must continue to be used creatively as a civic space, serving as a home for any number of non-arts events and functions. The result will be a hall that is “lit” more than it is “dark” and one that generates public enthusiasm and support.

We need only look at the PPAC for a successful model of how effective and creative management can make a historical theater a vibrant part of the community, offering not only the best in entertainment but also creating economic vitality and contributing to an exciting urban environment. During the past 20-plus years, our city and state have benefited greatly from the success of PPAC — through new jobs and added tax revenues and through the enhanced quality of life that performances of the highest caliber bring to our community.

As a facility that is dedicated to fostering local arts groups, VMA will probably always require a modest subsidy from its ownership entity. But it is much more appropriate to think of this subsidy as an investment that will bring both financial and cultural benefit to our community. As is the case with the Convention Center and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the subsidy will be more than offset by greater employment, by increased tax revenues (both income taxes from new jobs and sales taxes from more economic activity), and by the demonstration of yet another reason why Providence is a great place to live and do business.

A well-managed performing arts facility is an essential component of a community that is thriving both economically and culturally. The Convention Center Authority and its management have demonstrated the ability, commitment and creativity to make the Convention Center and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center major contributors to the revitalization of Providence. With the authority bringing its experience and expertise to the responsibility of owning and overseeing the management of VMA, Providence and Rhode Island will take a major step forward in their continuing rebirth as an arts and cultural center.

David N. Cicilline is mayor of Providence. Letitia Carter is past president of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium Foundation. Christopher McMahan is chairman of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.