Community center faces uphill climb to financial stability
The city of Sebastopol has reduced funding for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, turning up the pressure for the center to become self-sustaining
On Thursday, July 18, around 40 people showed up at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center (SCCC) to help the center’s staff and board of directors brainstorm about the future of the center. The organization had sent out an alert to the community a few weeks before, advertising the emergency meeting and suggesting that the center might be in danger of closing.
Because of budget worries, the city of Sebastopol has radically reduced the amount of funding it provides for the center. This year’s 2024-25 budget, which the Sebastopol City Council is expected to approve at its next meeting, reduces support for the Community Center’s operational expenses by $76,600. There were fears that the city would slash all funding to the center, but that proved not to be the case. Instead, the city is giving the center $58,300 to cover six months of operating expenses as it attempts to become self-sustaining. Since the city owns the building, it also provides maintenance and landscaping for the center through the public works budget.
“That six months of funding is super helpful and very much appreciated. That will help us continue on and get to a place where we can become self-sustaining,” said Community Center Director Tanya Sierra. “But there’s a lot of work that we need to do—and again that’s why we held this meeting—because we really need the community’s support in order to be able to stand on our own two feet,”
Sierra kicked off the meeting with a presentation. She began by explaining what the community center does.
She mentioned the center’s flagship cultural events—concerts and book talks with nationally famous authors. The center also offers Parks and Rec-like classes for adults, teens and children and hosts large community gatherings, including festivals (like the recent Sonoma County Bluegrass & Folk Festival). The center—which consists of the large main hall, the annex, and several smaller rooms—is also available to rent for private events.
“A lot of times when we talk to people, we find that they aren't aware of all of the services that we offer here,” Sierra said.
Here’s a brief snapshot of what each of these activities contributes to the center’s revenues.
It’s not just an issue of where the money comes from, however. There have also been financial declines, across the board, since the center’s banner year of 2017.
The challenges facing the center
Sierra then listed off the challenges that have left the center in its current precarious position, including the flood of 2019, from which the center has still not completely recovered. Then came COVID, which was devastating to all entertainment venues. Nor has the center escaped the ravages of inflation—in terms of both repairing the aging venue and operational costs. She also mentioned the growth of competing entertainment venues—both physical and online.
“There’s more venues than ever right now,” Sierra said. “And there’s a lot of venues that used to offer one thing that are now expanding their offerings of different entertainment options. In addition, there’s been an explosion of online exercise classes and just general things online that are taking people’s attention away from coming to a facility such as ours.”
The Community Center also faces challenges unique to Sebastopol—namely, its aging demographic.
“There’s demographic challenges as there’s fewer children in Sebastopol, and in general the population is aging. That affects the enrollment in classes,” she said.
A flyer for the event also noted that Sebastopol’s aging population seems less interested in attending events—the center’s bread and butter.
The facility itself remains a challenge. The center, with city funding, has made some flood repairs, added a new sound system, and updated the lighting and electrical in the main hall. They have also installed a “warming” kitchen to support events.
And, of course, there’s the ever-present threat of flooding in the future—which would render many of these improvements moot.
Though it wasn’t discussed at the meeting, the city council recently committed to creating an $85,000 Community Cultural Center Master Plan, which would examine flood mitigation and flood proofing alternatives for the center, as well as looking at alternative locations for the community center, outside of the flood zone.
What to do?
After the presentation, board president Rick Williams took the microphone out into the audience to gather people’s suggestions about how to draw more people to the center. And, of course, the audience had lots of ideas. (This is Sebastopol, after all.)
These included:
Get the word out about the center by tabling at events like Peacetown or the farmers market.
Have more festivals.
Make this a essential performing arts venue.
Use the services of the Time Bank.
More programs for kids.
Use social media, including Nextdoor.
Collaborate with other nonprofits, including sharing volunteer lists.
Apply for LGBT Youth Grants.
Do a GoFundMe.
Have a monthly sock hop.
Restart Sebastopol’s Got Talent.
Utilize high school volunteers who need community service credit.
Host a comedy competition.
There was some hard medicine as well. One younger person said that the fact that so many classes were filled with older people made younger people feel uncomfortable and like they weren’t in the right place. A couple of people criticized the decor, which is pretty basic. One person, who was dressed in rainbow tie dye from head to foot, complained that the center’s neutral color scheme was boring.
Several people warned of alarmism — of making things seem so dark that you scare off current clients, such as the Sonoma County Folk Festival, a longtime client who, according to one speaker, is now wondering if the Community Center is going to be here next year to host the festival.
The center’s staff and board have every intention of making it through this crisis. In fact, the center just released its schedule of fall and winter concerts. (Concerts are its biggest moneymakers at this point.)
The community center’s situation is daunting, but it does have friends on the Sebastopol City Council. Mayor Diana Rich, who was in attendance, is a former longtime director of the Community Center, while Councilmember Jill McLewis is a former board chair. Both indicated at the last city council meeting that they might be open to providing another six months of operational support in January should the center not be fully self-sustaining by then.
Williams asked people to donate, and SCCC board member Robin Latham gave a plea for involvement.
“We’re looking for people to volunteer. We’re looking for people to be on committees. We’re looking for people that might want to be on the board. And we’re looking also for people that might want to do some handiwork around the center, like painting or light construction.”
In other words, if you want the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center to be here for the long run, it’s time to get involved.
Thanks for the great article, Laura. The Sebastopol! Times is a remarkable addition to our community. So glad I subscribed.