The Columbia County Performing Arts center posted a profit on its own for the first time after three years of being in service to the public.
According to records provided by the county, the PAC took in $2.6 million in ticket sales and rental fees in fiscal year 2023 and spent $2 million on operating costs, leaving $600,000 in profit.
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Columbia County Commission Chairman Doug Duncan credits the facility’s staff for bringing in acts that the public wants to see perform and then seeing to it that the production personnel, from the stars to the roadies, have a pleasant experience performing at the venue, creating an industry buzz than gets the notice of promoters.
“Performing arts theaters are designed as a public amenity, not to make money. We would be happy to break even, but posting a profit is really icing on the cake,” Duncan said.
According to County Manager Scott Johnson, the county subsidized the operations for the first two years, giving a combined $1 million to get the center up and running.
“By law, money from the bonds can only be used for construction. So we gave them the seed money to get the theater off the ground, paying salaries and purchasing supplies,” Johnson said.
The PAC had 68 shows its first year and that figure had jumped to 159 events in fiscal year 2023, featuring world renowned music artists such as Air Supply, rising comedic star Matt Rife and the traveling Broadway production of “Rent.”
“We really are bringing in some super talent. I went to the production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” starring Richard Thomas from the Waltons and I was blown away,” Johnson said.
Johnson says that 200 shows are projected for next year.
The money that was made will go into a nest egg towards future maintenance, but not to pay down the bonds for the $40 million facility; according to Johnson, Columbia County is experiencing such growth, that the original one mil property tax increase to pay the bonds has been dropped down to a half-mil.
“The growth combined with success at the PAC meant we could ease the property tax rate on paying the bonds,” Johnson said.
The success has not been without growing pains; as a community center that can be rented by local groups, there have been times when national artists could not be booked because a local event was already scheduled.
According to Johnson, when the county began looking at ways to streamline the schedules, officials determined that the center’s booking rates were far lower than comparable venues.
“We really had to strike a balance, we had people booking private birthday parties and having them already scheduled means that we can’t book a Toby Kieth for that same night,” Johnson said.
At its June 4 meeting, the Columbia County Commission approved the first reading of a resolution to raise rates up as much as $2,000, depending on the night and type of event.
