The Carolina Theatre of Durham announced on Wednesday it will be temporarily closing for six months.
The performing arts center will be closed from Jan. 1 through June 30.
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Rebecca Newton, who stepped down as CEO of Carolina Theatre in July, said, "I don’t know what the plan is, but if the plan is just to close down and hope that it all gets better by June, that’s a very bad plan in my opinion."
The chairman of the theatre's board of trustees said the six-month closure would get the organization to the end of the fiscal year, then they will re-assess.
"We just weren’t making any money," board chair Bill Brian said. "The theatre has a cash reserves, but they’re limited. We’re going to run out of money within 4, 5, 6 months. The decision was made that we just need to close down entirely and try to hold on to resources in advance until such time as we can reopen."
He stressed they will only re-open when it makes sense to do so.
"Our current plan is to conserve our resources so that the theatre can come roaring back when the present public health crisis has passed," he said.
Staff will be reduced to the bare minimum to help manage communication and fiduciary responsibilities.
"That is the hardest working, most dedicated group of people to a non-profit arts cause that I’ve had the experience of working with," Newton said, "And I’m 64.
"I hope that they were part of the decision. I hope that they were respected, to be part of that decision-making, and I hope the best for all of them."
The theatre has not operated at full capacity since March 13.
Anyone who holds tickets to an event at the theatre should hold on to their tickets until the event happens as scheduled, or until an event has been postponed or officially canceled.