By EMMA BARTLETT

Park Theatre has drawn crowds to its venue since the 1920s, yet one of its drawbacks has been the venue’s parking situation. The theatre does not have its own lot and the previous company – 848 Park Avenue Associates – entered a ten year lease with the city’s prior administration that allowed Park Theatre to pay the city $1 a year for the use of its parking lot during events. Ed Brady and Jeff Quinlan, the facility’s new owners, inherited that lease which is five years underway. At a finance committee meeting on April 25, several council members asked Quinlan if Park Theatre would consider renegotiating the $1 per year fee and adding time specifications for lot usage during the day. Quinlan said the business would be open for a discussion.

Currently, the agreement between Park Theatre and the city is that the theatre can use the parking lot for their events – with no time specifications. During weekdays, city employees, firefighters, school employees and students make use of this lot.

“My concern is that we’re going to get phone calls that there’s a shortage of parking for students, for city staff, for school department staff,” said Councilwoman Jessica Marino.

Marino asked if Park Theatre and the administration discussed limits on the use of the parking lot during the day or in general, to which the answer was, no. Quinlan said they’d be open to the discussion of limiting the use of the parking lot to a number of spaces during the day, particularly during the school year. Additionally, he mentioned speaking with Major Todd Patalano about whether there were large problems on large or medium show nights and there wasn’t anything mentioned about congesting the parking lot.

Quinlan said Park Theatre would not hold many events held during the day and that most cars would come in during the late night events. The Park Cafe would be the only portion of the business which would be open during the day, and he said that while he and Brady will learn what the site and facility dictate, he expects the day time impact on parking to be low.

“As far as the parking, I don’t think it’s going to be much during the day, if at all,” said Council President Chris Paplauskas, who envisions people driving up, picking up their food and coffee and heading to work.

He said this would be a similar parking situation to what other coffee shops on Rolfe Square already see.

Marino also added that the one dollar rate for use of the parking lot is shocking. Councilman Matt Reilly spoke to the rate as well.

“Given what we’re looking at in terms of finances for this coming budget year, things are tough for business owners, things are tough for families, things are tough for municipal governments. So would you and your partners – not to put you on the spot – be willing to sit down in good faith to renegotiate that $1 for parking?” asked Reilly.

The theatre would consider a discussion about the rate once they are able to stabilize their business.

“Should the Park Theatre prove to be successful financially, we agree with Mr. Jeff Quinlan that we welcome them back to the table to have further discussions about that issue,” said Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti. “In the meantime, we understand that the Park is taking the risk of reviving that facility and operation and it would be fair to give them the opportunity to become financially viable before discussions take place.”

The theatre does not plan to charge for the spots, and Quinlan mentioned that they wanted to make parking part of the theatre experience since it is a key component to the business’s success in Rolfe Square. He said the theatre is looking for additional parking spaces and is in talks with Crosstown Press Inc. and Centreville Bank.

Who would maintain the lot was also discussed.

“There’s no language that speaks to a maintenance obligation, we have other businesses within the city and we’re more than willing to do our part in maintaining that lot before and after our use of it,” Quinlan said.

Overall, the theatre is willing to have discussions on the parking situation.

“We’re happy to revisit that to make the agreement successful for both parties long term,” Quinlan said.