SOPAC Starts Anew With Debt Erased, Seen as Potential 'Economic Engine'

The South Orange Board of Trustees (BOT) received a standing ovation at the end of its meeting Monday night after voting unanimously to restructure the South Orange Performing Arts Center’s (SOPAC) debt with a new lease agreement.

SOPAC and the BOT agreed that if the center is to secure funding, the staggering debt needs to be removed from its books. In order for grantmakers to support a non-profit organization, they need to feel confident the organization will be around for years to come. According to the trustees, SOPAC Executive Director Mark Packer and several members of the SOPAC Board of Governors, however, such assurances have come to fruition.

“SOPAC stands poised to expand our impact on the community and on the region,” Packer said. The center will have almost three times as many performances in 2013 as last year, which Packer credits to renewed initiative by the center in his early tenure, and a new booking agent, Steve Lurie, whose first three shows have already sold out.

Packer also announced the events for SOPAC’s next season have already generated $50,000 in advanced sales, but he also emphasized “the healthiest and strongest non-profits exist on a combination of funding [public and private institutional support].”

“SOPAC is not possible unless we [restructure this debt],” South Orange resident Peri Smilow said. “We moved here for a particular reason. We believe in this village because of its commitment to three important elements: diversity, high-quality education and the arts.”

SOPAC Vice Chairwoman Carolyn Mason said the center’s board had two main objectives before it could truly turn around. The first, she said, was changing the way SOPAC was managed, which they accomplished with the hiring of Packer. The second was restructuring the debt.

Paul Bartick, a member of the SOPAC board of governors since 2010, said he joined the center’s board as a concerned citizen.

“When I got onto the Board of Governors at SOPAC,” Bartick said. “I learned that our financial records, our policies… were in disarray. I felt that SOPAC was not a very good partner to the Village of South Orange. We were just not a transparent organization… Now, SOPAC has become transparent and financially responsible.”

Trustee Sheena Collum said the Board received a wholly positive reaction from the public regarding the plan. SOPAC can be “an anchor, an economic engine” for the Village, she said. “I encourage everyone to give generously this year [to SOPAC] because we all will reap the benefits.”

Village President Alex Torpey echoed the sentiment, saying he’s seen a positive change at SOPAC in just a couple years since being elected. “I’m very excited to have had the pleasure of working with the board members of SOPAC,” Torpey said. “I think this ordinance will bring about a great deal of change.”

“In the years to come, we will expand SOPAC’s footprint,” Packer said. “We will be interacting in our community in a myriad of new ways.”

“The people of South Orange have the right to enjoy culture here in town,” he added. “They don’t have to go to Newark and they don’t have to go to New York.”