By Robert Edwin Field, Publisher
As the advisor to the business committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, NewsLanc publisher Robert Field was startled to learn earlier today that that interim president Tom LeCrone and most of the trustees of the Academy had resigned, including chair of the board, Robert Falk, MD, and chair of the business committee, Arthur Mann, Sr. Mann says he would serve as an advisor.
At a meeting on Sunday among Mann, Field, and co-founder Fran Veri, a director, faculty member, past dean and currently in charge of curriculum and planning, Mann and Field explained to Veri that, at the current and projected cash flow loss of $100,000 a month, the Academy could not continue operations beyond the end of the semester in June if it were to meet all of its obligations to employees and creditors.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, PAM was not required to make payments into the state unemployment fund and is obliged to pay these costs directly.
Falk attributed his resignation to differences with the co-founders, Veri and her husband Michael J. Jamanis, the former president of the academy. At a trustee meeting last week, Falk had proposed that both Veri and Jamanis exit the board and they had declined. Veri had offered to resign from her salaried position under certain conditions pertaining to school operations.
Successful cultural institutions are usually an uneasy alliance between the business and artistic sides. In the case of PAM, there apparently wasn’t an assertive business side during the earlier years, if indeed it functioned at all. Furthermore, little if any headway was made by the business committee since their appointment a half a year ago.
Members and Field had varying views on important matters. An example of the differing views of committee members: Mann thought there was merit in moving back to Liberty Place; Field advocated moving PAM to the ground floor meeting space of the Brunswick Hotel, arranging to hold events at the current Academy or elsewhere, and using floors of the hotel for future dormitories; and Burton was determined to raise funds to buy the building back from the bank!
Moreover, no committee member was available to take a hands-on role in the operations of the Academy. However, committee member Mary Burton put forth much effort in the difficult task of fundraising.
The deeding over of the building to the mortgage holder further compromised the ability to raise additional funds, since PAM was operating under a short term lease.
The possible good news is that there may be a White Knight waiting in the wings. If this prospect pans out—and there have only been preliminary overtures—it would not only fulfill the goals of the founders and those who generously supported their dream, but it would be the best thing to happen to downtown Lancaster since the Confederate army was halted at Gettysburg.
PAM’s last service to the community may be to meet its obligations and depart with grace, making way for others who can bring to fruition what the founders and their supporters set out to achieve.
Actually, the Confederate Army was stopped at Wrightsville, and only because the overwhelmed Columbia militia set fire to the covered bridge across the Susquehanna (the fire-blackened piers from that bridge are still visible, next to the Route 462 bridge). The soldiers at Wrightsville were ordered to return to Gettysburg after the battle began there.
What really bothers me about this is the millions of taxpayer dollars spent on the PAM facility. It appears that none of the government agencies involved performed any due diligence before approving these large grants; if they had, PAM’s lack of a workable business plan would have become known even before construction began.