Sue Hennessy
With rumors swirling fast and furious last Friday, June 12, that the school district was evicting the Grand Marais Playhouse from the district owned Arrowhead Center for the Arts (ACA), ISD 166 school board Chair Dan Shirley responded on Boreal, “There is NO pending eviction of the Grand Marais Playhouse from the ACA.”
“The Cook County School District values the partnership with the Playhouse and has no intention of severing our ties. The Playhouse is an asset to our community and our students. The School has never contemplated an eviction of the Playhouse.”
But wait a minute, said Grand Marais Playhouse Director Sue Hennessy, there is more to this story, and Sue sat down with the Cook County News- Herald to explain her side of the story.
When the Grand Marais Playhouse was recently told to remove its items out of the ACA office so new carpet could be installed, it did so, said Hennessy.
But imagine her surprise, she said, that on the same day all of the playhouse items were removed from the ACA office, that she received a notice from the school district telling her the playhouse would not be allowed back into that space.
Instead, the school district was asking Sue, the playhouse director for the last 22 years, to pack up and move to the former WTIP studio, a much smaller space far removed from the entrance to the ACA.
That edict by the school district prompted the playhouse board to contact a lawyer.
Hennessy said the playhouse lease agreement states that its office will be located in the ACA office and the lease has an 18-month notice provision.
“I don’t know if they understand that the office is not just my office. We use this space as a classroom, dressing room, staging room, rehearsal area, and a box office. The ACA office is integral to our ongoing programming and financial viability. We cannot conduct business without the space and functions it provides.”
Over the years, said Sue, “The school has been slowly removing ACA spaces from community use. The Playhouse and other arts organizations have had to adjust. The Playhouse office has replaced some of these spaces serving as a dressing room, rehearsal space, classroom and storage space, as well as office for staff, board, consultants and visiting artists. It includes a large library of scripts, theater and technical books. It houses 50 years of archival material that is accessed regularly.”
Hennessy asserted that these lost spaces are essential to supporting the activities that happen in the auditorium. “Rehearsal space, dressing room and storage space, these changes have not come with dialogue. They just happen and the Playhouse and other arts organizations are left to adapt as best we can. It’s getting harder and harder.
“Over the last few years communication has deteriorated between the Playhouse and the School,” she added. Some history: The Playhouse, which pays the school district $10,000 annually to rent space, signed a lease in 2009 that provides space in the ACA office for its main business office, and two spaces behind the stage for its shop and storage. It has small storage spaces around the ACA for hair and make-up supplies, concession supplies, costume jewelry, and lights and sound equipment.
“The loss of the office space is not just about moving my desk into a small room,” Hennessy said in response to the decision made by the school district.
“The WTIP studios are not adequate for the business of the organization. We have stated this. No dialogue. Additional provisions for the wellbeing of the organization are vague and not in writing. Why not work on a new lease agreement? Why not, she asked, “have a dialogue about the needs of the school and the Playhouse?”
Hennessy said the Playhouse Board of Directors hired a lawyer to take issue with the school district. “That wasn’t my decision to make,” she added.
“We have had a productive relationship with the school district over the last 22 years and I hope it can continue. Right now we are in a succession stage. I won’t be here forever and we are getting other people trained to take over. It won’t be one person who takes this job. No one is going to take on all of the duties and responsibilities that I have taken on. For this to work, we need a long- term lease from the school district.”
Over the years, the playhouse has lost space as the school has grown. Those lost areas, said Hennessy, include the Elementary Arts room (currently the District office) and the conference rooms, which were used regularly for rehearsal space and dressing rooms. The school installed an air handler in its storage room, removing much needed storage and lowering the height of the room for tall storage. The Band room has become increasingly difficult to use for rehearsal space and dressing rooms.
With available space shrinking, the ACA office has become the space for these lost rooms, except for tall storage, she said.
When asked how many kids she has worked with over the course over her career, Sue laughed. “I have no idea. We typically (non- COVID-19 years) have 150 volunteers that help with the four plays we produce annually and hire and train as many as 12 kids to help with play productions. We pride ourselves on providing a safe space for kids of all races, genders, identities, etc., I have received letters from former students who have gone into professional acting, business, and other professions who have said that the training they received here had helped them in their careers. I hope we can work something out with the school district so we can continue.”
As for ISD 166 school board Chair Dan Shirley’s response, he added, “The District has been in discussions with the Playhouse for over a year on updating our lease, which has not been done for over a decade. Part of this discussion has centered on the location of the Playhouse’s office space within the ACA facility. Due to the changing demands on the school, the District has been working with the Playhouse to move office spaces, down the hall, and still within the facility. The shuffling of rooms and offices is a regular occurrence at the school, in order to best accommodate the needs of our students as they change over time.
“The District’s commitment to our lease with the Playhouse and the commitment to our partnership is not in jeopardy.”
ISD 166 Superintendent Dr. Bill Crandall also signed Chair Dan Shirley’s response.
Grand Marais Playhouse board Chair Jane Gellner said, “On June 18, we were required to vacate the office. The office is integral to our survival and we cannot conduct business without the space.
“We have a lease that prohibits the school from doing exactly what they are doing, which is to move us without negotiating a new lease agreement.
“We want to continue our relationship with the school and we are, with the Playhouse conducting partnership teaching with teachers from ISD 166 this fall.”
Gellner added, “The Playhouse has been trying to negotiate a new lease for over 2 years. Our last proposal in June 2019 was not even discussed in school board minutes and no counter proposal was received.”
“We want to continue our relationship with the school. We want to continue providing for students and the community. But we need a new lease to replace ours when it expires so we can continue to use the space we need.”
Editor’s note: Dan Shirley has a longer letter this week in the Letters to the Editor column further explaining the school District’s position and how they are going to handle this situation.
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