The Promise of Culture

A few Sundays ago, The New York Times ran a wonderful story about opera houses in Maine.

Wait. Wait. Before you leave because you don’t like opera—hear me out.

The opera houses mentioned in the story weren’t just places for opera. Many were built 150 years ago on Main Streets in small towns, offering a wide variety of programming. Plays, magic shows, lectures, vaudeville entertainment and, eventually, movies were among the attractions.

While major cities built grand edifices, small towns got in on the craze as well, building more modest opera houses where people gathered.

It was a cool story, one of resilience and aspiration  Many opera houses were rebuilt after fires and floods. But it was also a glimpse into what these towns viewed as an essential element of civic infrastructure.

These buildings, built by business leaders, philanthropists and sometimes the towns themselves, became centers of community life. In the Maine towns I read about, many still play that role today.

The story made me miss the Crest Theatre, the historic venue we lost to politics a few years ago when the Delray Beach City Commission booted the founders of Old School Square without a public discussion or notice.

Five years later, the Crest remains closed. We are about to lose yet another season to the inertia of city government.

A few weeks ago, the city heard a consultant’s report about what it could do to resurrect what Old School Square had provided for nearly 30 years before the decision to terminate the lease.

I listened in. I didn’t hear anything earth-shattering.

Then I thought about Maine.

In Camden, a picturesque town on the coast, the town runs its opera house.

“We’re not a business: we’re a service, like the fire department or wastewater management,” said Dave Morrison, the manager of the Camden Opera House.

That’s an interesting approach.

The town considers the arts an integral part of its civic fabric, as essential to community life as a fire department or wastewater management. The opera house isn’t simply a venue expected to turn a profit. It’s a public service.

That’s not the prevailing ethos in Florida, where Tallahassee consistently questions the role and authority of local government. The state seeks to constrain local government and, increasingly, influence cultural programming. Say goodbye to freedom, say goodbye to home rule.

There’s a better way. Let local communities shape their own destinies. If you don’t like what’s happening, vote them out.

Let’s look at how Camden and other towns in Maine approached the arts.

Back in the 1980s, the town questioned why it owned a big, drafty building. There were suggestions to turn the space into condominiums. Instead, Camden invested in a major renovation and found a way to make its opera house a destination.

Today, the Camden Opera House is a beautiful and popular venue. It builds community, drives commerce, and puts on shows for appreciative audiences.

In Waterville, the opera house is part of a constellation of arts programs that includes a film center and an art gallery. Waterville has built its economic renewal around the arts. The community supports these facilities because it understands their intrinsic value as well as their economic potential.

It’s the same story in Stonington, Gardiner and Boothbay Harbor, where historic opera houses have been resurrected by nonprofits and dedicated citizens determined to serve their communities and lovingly tend to these buildings.

That was our story, too.

The fundamental mistake Delray Beach made was one of mindset. The nonprofit that created, largely funded and operated Old School Square was never just a tenant. It was a creator, a founder, a partner and a volunteer organization that helped transform a collection of historic school buildings into one of the defining cultural institutions of our region.

It wasn’t perfect. The nonprofit would be the first to say that.

But it worked. Very well, for decades.

Fixing what was broken will take a lot of leadership. It will require people willing to put aside old grievances, acknowledge mistakes and focus on what matters now. It will take a genuine partnership and a shared understanding that the goal is bigger than managing a building.

It is about restoring a place that belongs at the center of community life.

Old School Square holds enormous promise for Delray Beach. Restoring it would be worth the effort.

Our town, like every town, needs a place to gather.

Every town needs a place where people can see shows, have their hearts and minds opened, and encounter ideas and experiences beyond their everyday lives.

Especially now.

We live in an age of loneliness, fear, division, hatred, dread and confusion. We are more connected technologically than ever, yet so many people feel disconnected from one another.

The arts are a salve for some of what ails us. They surprise us, challenge us, move us and remind us that we aren’t alone. They bring people together who might otherwise never share an experience.

Art is not a luxury we get around to after the essential work is finished. At its best, it is part of that essential work.

It is an act of community in an age that desperately cries out for connection. It is a reminder of our shared humanity. And it offers something we could all use a little more of right now: hope.

Maine is doing it, with far fewer resources than we have in Florida. Its towns have chosen to preserve these buildings, support the arts and keep these gathering places alive.

We can do that, too.

Maine said yes to preservation, to art, to hope, to community. We can as well.