Operator of CityStage, Springfield Symphony Hall sees financial challenges as it renews venue contracts

Springfield Performing Arts Development Corp. formed in the late 1990s as a division of the Springfield Business Development Corp. The group took over management of the former StageWest in 1998, renaming the venue CityStage. StageWest, a resident professional theater company that had operated in the Columbus Center space since it opened in 1984, shut down after accumulating $700,000 in debt — a financial situation blamed at the time on a waning subscriber base, poor management and challenges nonprofit theaters were facing around the country, according to a report in the Union-News, predecessor to The Republican.
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