Board president Andrew Caplan was the sole no vote. He proposed an amendment that would have shortened the agreement to two years, but no other board members supported it. He said he was in favor of the memorandum of understanding in general, but felt five years was “aggressive.”
Caplan said in his six years of experience on the school board he’s seen a lot of financial dysfunction at the Park City Institute. He also said the nonprofit has used bad faith tactics during contract negotiations.
“If this was another organization that didn’t have a 25-year history in the community and with this building, I would guess that based on their actions over the past contract, it wouldn’t be something we would renew or consider,” Caplan said.
Park City Institute Executive Director Ari Ioannides said that when he took the helm three years ago, there were financial troubles, but those have been cleared up under his tenure.
“As everyone knows when I took over, we were in the hole $750,000," Ioannides told KPCW.
"The balance sheet was upside down. I think a lot of the things [Caplan] was mentioning happened more than three years ago before the pandemic, and I think we’ve cleaned things up.”
He also said a two-year deal would have created fundraising hurdles and made it harder to schedule shows.
The Eccles Center is a performing arts theater attached to Park City High School. The school district and non-profit institute have shared use of it since it opened in 1998.
Newly elected board member Nick Hill said he didn’t see any reason not to approve the proposed agreement.
“I think it’s clear that if we cut this — to renew it in a year — we are creating significant difficulties for PCI,” Hill said at the meeting.
Board member Wendy Crossland said the relationship between the two parties needs improvement.
An amendment added to the contract requires that the institute give an annual update to the board, which will include details on financials.
Ioannides initially announced last fall that he would step down as executive director in March. Due to the prolonged contract negotiations, he said that has been delayed, and he will stay on until a replacement is found.
The new Eccles Center contract will expire in Dec. 2027.
On Tuesday the board also approved the schedule for next school year. The first day of school will be August 22, with the last day and high school graduation set for June 7.
