THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 14, 1995 TAG: 9503140312
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
College of The Albemarle trustees on Monday gave their blessing to a small group working to form a commercial theater company that would use the college's auditorium.
The board approved the concept, but not all the details, of a rough plan submitted by local community leader Winnie Wood, one of a few residents spearheading a drive to bring a new cultural attraction to town while making better use of a costly campus building.
``We are trying to bring another business to this area . . . to make money for the shareholders and COA,'' Wood said in explaining the proposal. ``We did not uncover any financial downside for COA.''
Wood's group recently played host to a Canadian theater administrator who spent a week in the area to see if conditions were right to start a for-profit repertory theater to run here during the summer months.
Supporters believe the theater would attract Outer Banks visitors as well as Hampton Roads residents. If successful, it would also bring in extra funds to the college.
The auditorium, built several years ago with significant financial support from private donors, has been underused and is currently costing the college money.
``We were really kind of at our wit's end to figure out how to make it profitable'' before the theater idea came up, COA President Larry Donnithorne told the board.
One possible hurdle to the theater's profitability is a statute forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages on campuses. But that's a problem Wood said could be worked out. Her group is expected to continue studying the idea now that the board has tentatively endorsed it.
The trustees also discussed a more immediate financial concern: the threat that the state might cut more than $200,000 from COA's maintenance budget by eliminating a supplemental provision that affects only three community colleges in the state.
COA gets the extra state money, on top of county maintenance funds, because a majority of its students come from outside Pasquotank County. But Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s budget proposal recommends eliminating that supplement.
School officials are still hopeful that the funds will survive the state budgeting process, but they don't expect to know until July. Administrators have taken pre-emptive steps to save money this year in case the funds are lost.
A recommendation to the board submitted by Barry Hartis, dean of administrative services, called for a number of cuts, including savings on utilities and laying off three full-time employees by the end of the month.
After a painful discussion in which several board members said they did not want to take away jobs before the money was actually lost, the board postponed the more dramatic cuts for at least 30 days.
The postponement came at the direction of board Chairman Bruce Biggs, acting in the absence of a motion.
COA also announced that it would purchase property from former COA interim President Gerald Bray for about $900,000.
Board members also were scheduled to decide, in closed session, whether to allow former English instructor Jim Bridges to make a proposal for his re-instatement.
Bridges, a popular but controversial teacher, was fired last year after some students complained about his sexually explicit language in and out of class. He was told that his teaching style had put the college at risk for a sexual harassment suit.
Bridges requested the hearing in a Feb. 21 letter to COA board of trustees members, proposing that he return on a nine-month contract and report only to the board of trustees.
Bridges recommended that his classes be advertised as ``adult'' and ``potentially offensive'' and that his students be required to pledge not to sue Bridges or the college.
The board had not decided late Monday on whether to hear Bridges' proposal in person at a later meeting. by CNB