It almost happened. Chairman Bill Clark got one of his two wishes. He was able to snag that needed third vote in this new year to swipe funding from the Colonnade. His attempt to take county funding from the Learning Center failed miserably.

This is a road traveled last year where that Board of Commissioners chose to keep funding the Colonnade. Commissioner Clark, although praised in this newspaper in the past for his willingness to stand alone and fight, has exhibited what one might call a vendetta against the Colonnade and the Learning Center. It makes one wonder if there might be a deeper, behind-the-scenes reasoning for his targeting these two entities.

The Colonnade is a wonderful amenity for plays and countless other events and functions. The money commissioners chose to phase out over the next two years pays largely for the upkeep and building operations. A building that was constructed with taxpayer — albeit sales tax — funds will now have no taxpayer funds and its support will be predominately donation based.

This is a county-owned, county-built facility that has lost county funding. This move is akin to a parent refusing to take care of its child — a child that many love. Just because some of the family says we don’t like this kid is no reason to get rid of him.

The youth who have flourished and adults that support the theater stand to be hit the hardest. That’s the problem — the majority of Catoosans don’t appreciate or want any part of the theater at the Colonnade. So the majority, through the votes of Bill Clark, Dewayne Hill and Bobby Winters, have taken a shot at the minority — the theater lovers.



Let’s make no bones about it, the directors/producers of a show pay the Colonnade to put on a play. The directors/producers make good money from the performances of unpaid volunteer actors. People volunteer to be in the show and the directors by virtue of putting up their own money and time make money off this process.

That part of the equation is clear.

Now that county funding has been pulled there stands the chance that theater rental fees will rise and directors/producers may be less willing to put on shows.

The fact that theater goes largely unsupported by the mass populace is their choice. The fact that many taxpayers see the Colonnade as an extravagance is their choice. But the benefits of a theater program are many and often those benefits come in the form of an increase in confidence and personal growth of these volunteer actors — many of them students.

Maybe Catoosa isn’t ready for plays. Maybe we need to stay as far in the past as possible and deny all things progressive or new. If some had there way, Benton Place campus would be nothing but pine trees and rocks — no Senior Center, no Learning Center, no new Health Department, no Library and most of all, no “fancy” Colonnade.

The choice to cut funding from the Colonnade, which may or may not impact a fledgling theater program, was still a bad choice. The Colonnade is a jewel that is underutilized and needs more support of the county government and its taxpayers, not less. If promoted and used correctly, this beautiful facility, which is a rarity in a county this size, could offer a large financial boost and an even larger cultural and educational boost.

The Colonnade theater program will likely survive with an increased effort by the Catoosa Foundation for Performing Arts, some creative funding and some dedicated people. But once again this whole thing smacks of a vendetta or power trip. Mr. Clark didn’t have his three votes last year but now that Mr. Hill has decided to overturn what another commissioner approved last year, it throws up a red flag. At least Mr. Hill and Mr. Winters thwarted the attempt to cut adult education and the strive for literacy.

No, taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for everything but cutting Colonnade funding wasn’t the place to trim the fat in a county largely devoid of cultural options.

With yet another attack on the Learning Center and Colonnade, Mr. Clark may have guaranteed this being his only term in office. His tiger-like aggression toward these two facilities and his quest to have it his way are commendable in the fact that he is a man willing to go for what he thinks is right, but on the other hand, the interested observer might see a stubborn leader using his power to get his way come hell or high water.

Mr. Clark, quit attacking quality of life for a large number of constituents who don’t share your minimalist, every-man-for-himself ideology