More than a year after its lights dimmed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford got a shot in the arm this week in the form of a $5.75 million grant from the federal shuttered venue operators relief program.
The funding will help reverse some, though not all, of the financial losses sustained over the last year, as performance revenue evaporated and more than 90% of all staff were furloughed, theater executives said.
“The [shuttered venue operators grant] program goes a long way to heal the deepest wounds inflicted during what will ultimately be an 18-month closure,” said Bushnell President and CEO David Fay. “And, while this program alone doesn’t get us ‘all the way home’ in terms of our overall recovery, it is an excellent example of our federal government stepping up to say that the arts and arts organizations matter to our communities and to our citizens.”
Executives credited donors, as well as two Paycheck Protection Program loans, with keeping up operations since March 2020, when theaters, alongside cinemas, museums and other arts and entertainment businesses, were forced to close their doors.
The shuttered venue grant, administered through the U.S. Small Business Administration, was set up earlier this year with the goal of helping revive those public spaces, based on much revenue they lost as a result of coronavirus-related shutdown orders.
The grant comes as the Bushnell ramps up operations and prepares for its first shows in over a year.
A small percentage of furloughed staff will return to work this week, with all employees expected to be called back in early September. Private events will continue to be held at the theater through the summer, and an official reopening for public performances has been scheduled for Sept. 11.
