BY MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
FOR GLASGOW NEWS 1
The historic Plaza Theatre hosted 39 events over the past fiscal year, said executive director Carolyn Glodfelter during an annual update before the Glasgow Common Council at its regular meeting Monday.
Of those, five were Plaza sponsored, meaning they contract with and pay directly for an artist to appear; nine were school-day events, serving more than 2,500 students; 25 were rental events, organized, for example, by local nonprofit groups for fundraisers, by the Far Off Broadway Players local theater organization for their plays, by local dance studios for recitals and by professional promoters who independently book acts and bring them here. She said there were six in that last category for the fiscal year ending June 30.
As of Monday, Glodfelter said, 19,034 people from 26 states had visited the venue during this fiscal year, compared with around 15,000 the prior year, and that was with three more events still to go.
In responding to a council member’s question about the Plaza’s economic impact at the conclusion of her discussion, she noted, “They’re staying and eating and shopping somewhere.”
Twenty-five events are already booked for the coming year, she said.
Glodfelter had begun her discussion by noting that the Plaza has annual memberships that follow the fiscal year, so new ones and renewals would begin July 3. They are $25 and entitle the person to perks such as ticket purchases before the general public and sometimes, early access to the theater.
On the rolls for this past year are 79 members, which currently equates to 213 seats, she said.
Glodfelter said the building itself turns 90 years old next year, so ideas are percolating as to how to best celebrate that anniversary, and in the meantime, some extra cleaning and maintenance are taking place.
She said the iconic marquee, including some of the light fixtures, needs significant work that tends to be “fairly expensive,” so a special fundraiser may be organized to assist with that.
“That is the shining star,” she said. “That’s what people see.”
The flashing of the lights is actually controlled by a 105-year-old machine, so she put out a general solicitation of ideas for backup plan for when it no longer works, and it’s only used sparingly.
Another annual report was from Kevin Myatt, planning director for the Joint City-County Planning Commission of Barren County, which does work on behalf of all four local governments – Barren County Fiscal Court and each of the three incorporated cities – Glasgow, Cave City and Park City.
He provided brief information about the history of commission before moving on to discuss the increase in subdivision-plat and zone-change applications they’ve seen since 2020 and some of the “little” things they have to consider.
State law requires that the county’s comprehensive plan for development be updated at least every 10 years, Myatt said.
“We do it every five years, because a decade is just too long for your community,” he said, and this is one of those years. Meetings for the gathering of public input will be scheduled around the county soon, he said.
The commission is also beginning a review of the Glasgow zoning ordinance, with three members of the commission having been appointed so far, and Myatt asked Mayor Henry Royse to consider appointing at least two council members for that committee. By the time Myatt answered two or three questions from the council, Royse announced that council members Joe Trigg and Chasity Lowery had volunteered to serve on that panel. Any changes to the ordinance recommended by the committee would require several steps before becoming final.
The final annual report was provided by Sheryl Pena, the city’s code enforcement officer, and this information will be reported separately by Glasgow News 1.
After the reports and with no action items before them, the council went into closed session for approximately 25 minutes to discuss pending litigation. Upon resuming the open meeting, the council voted unanimously to authorize City Attorney Rich Alexander to negotiate a settlement with Barbara England, former human resources manager for the city, within the parameters set forth during the closed session. After the meeting, Alexander said the case involves an allegation that the city violated the Family and Medical Leave Act.
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