VALDOSTA — After seven years, the question of whether Valdosta is ready for a performing arts center is back on the table.

That’s the question Mayor John Gayle posed to a room full of city officials inside Mathis City Auditorium earlier this week.

“Your charge here today is to answer these questions,” Gayle said. “Does Valdosta need a performing arts center? Where should it be located? And how much should we spend?”

The next hour and a half was filled with a flurry of ideas and possibilities, ranging from building a new, state-of-the art building somewhere in the city to selling Five Points to pay for improvements to long-time venue Mathis City Auditorium. 

The decision to build an auditorium, as well as a library, at Five Points was presented to voters in the form of a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax back in 2012. Voters rejected the tax then by a slim margin.

Now, the performing arts center committee is meeting to come up with ideas for what the city should do next and if a new auditorium should be added to the upcoming SPLOST project list for residents to vote on.

City Manager Mark Barber said the last facility, which would have been located at Five Points, would have cost about $30 million. The price did not include the daily operation costs once the facility was completed.

Barber said Mathis, 2300 N. Ashley St., operates at a lost month after month.

“These types of facilities don’t make money,” Barber said. “They weren’t designed to make money.”

Mathis, according to officials at the meeting, is about 60 years old. It houses a 1,192-seat auditorium and a 5,000-square-foot multi-purpose room. 

Both spaces are available for rent and accommodate a variety of events, including local plays, dance performances, choral presentations, popular concerts and public meetings.

Sementha Mathews, executive director for the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, said Mathis does not have the capabilities of accommodating some of the larger nationally touring productions hosted by the center’s Presenter Series. So, Valdosta is passed over for some concerts, art shows and Tony Award-winning plays, she said.

A performing arts center would be much more detailed than Mathis and would include rafters, lighting, changing rooms and more seating.

Some members of the committee asked if the city should spend money on updating Mathis instead of proposing another SPLOST vote to raise money for a new auditorium.

City Councilman Tim Carroll said the city could sell Five Points, which could make the city about $8 million, and use the money to bring Mathis into the 21st century. 

Before moving ahead with anything, Councilman Joseph “Sonny” Vickers said the city should look into the current condition of Mathis and whether it could handle new additions.

Vickers, along with Mayor Pro-Tem Sandra Tooley, raised concerns about keeping Mathis and a new facility affordable. If updating Mathis raises the cost of renting the facility, some members of the community might not be able to use the facility.

The committee failed to reach any clear decision. The committee agreed with Vickers that an assessment of Mathis, both partial and full, should be done before moving forward.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256