TRAVERSE CITY — Organizers of a popular summer festival are making good on their promise to replace seats in a Traverse City school auditorium that serves as a venue, but the project is not yet guaranteed.
A decision is expected in May about whether new seats can be installed in Lars Hockstad Auditorium in time for the Traverse City Film Festival in late July.
Festival co-founder and filmmaker Michael Moore last year said he would upgrade the Central Grade School theater's chairs if Traverse City Area Public Schools made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a district holiday. Administrators and teachers had been negotiating the calendar change and classes were canceled for the first time in January.
The estimated $150,000 project would replace 948 old seats with about 800 new ones, which would offer more legroom and improved disability access, said Paul Soma, TCAPS' chief financial officer.
To do so would require removal of asbestos found in floor tiles and, more recently, floor sealant, Soma said. Administrators also want to arrange to have the facility's walls painted while the chairs are out, but that would depend on time and cost.
"This project has not been certified a go," he said. "We're still seeing if we can make it all work."
Administrators have not yet discussed what would happen should the project be postponed. They are optimistic it won't.
Moore said he will launch a fundraising drive, aided by his own contribution, as soon as the district gives the OK. He anticipates the money could be raised in three weeks with support from the festival's Friends group and other donors.
He also intends to provide volunteer laborers to do the work, and said the festival might be able to cover the costs of painting. He pointed to the quick renovation of the State Theatre when it reopened in 2007 as an example.
"If anybody can get this done, we can do it," Moore said. "I'm not going to commit to anything unless I know it's going to happen."
District administrators asked the festival to commit to the project by Feb. 28 to allow time to consider logistics. Response came a few weeks later, which Soma recently told school board members was outside of a "comfortable timeline" for completion.
Festival organizers also launched the second Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival in February, Moore said, adding that both sides attempted to line up the project in time.
Work could begin after school ends the week of June 5, said Paul Mahon, TCAPS' capital projects director. The film festival is scheduled to start July 26.
Aisles would be widened, seating would be staggered to improve sight lines and chairs would accommodate both adults and children, he said.
Under state law, school districts are required to seek bids for projects that top $20,000. TCAPS' counsel, Thrun Law Firm, advised administrators that bidding wouldn't be necessary since the festival would donate the physical asset and no public funds would be spent to obtain it, Mahon said.
The theater is used not only by students and festivalgoers, but by other community groups, Central Grade Principal Bob Peters said. His students plan a talent show there June 6 and will celebrate fifth-grade graduation ceremonies June 9.
"From my perspective, it's done when it's done," Peters said. "We're hopeful."
