It was a contentious debate between the City Council and a group of Redding citizens over what to do with The Convention Center that was becoming a financial drain to the city.
Now, six months later, the renamed Redding Civic Auditorium is in the hands of a new organization Bethel Church.
When Bethel took over, many were worried that only religious events would come to town. It does appear there will be more of those but a variety of other non-religious events are already on the schedule.
One of the very first events to come to The Civic under management is a religious one.
“We are a ministry that ministers outside the walls of Bethel Church each and minister to youth and young adults,” said Jerry Niswander of Jesus Culture.
But plenty of other acts plan to visit. General Manager of the Civic, Sheri Silk, says the outlook is good.
“Well we are excited because we are booked out just about every weekend between now and mid-July and we start picking up again in the fall,” said Silk.
In the coming months, everything from antiques shows to country music will make a stop in Redding, even a band called Five Finger Death Punch.
“We are not censoring anybody, we formed a public benefit non profit called Advance Redding so the public does not have to deal with the church, they can rent the building just like they are used to,” said Silk.
One thing that is different, many of the people that worked at The Civic are no longer there but Advance Redding told Action News that many of them were offered jobs.
“Most of them went to another city job, were absorbed into another city job.
the tech director, he stayed on with us, the stage director stayed on with us and they a couple of gals in the box office,” said Haley Conner, Box Office Manager with the Civic.
A new soundboard and projector screens mean better audience experience. But don't expect to enjoy the view with a beer, alcohol is no longer allowed in the auditorium, only in the lobby area.
“We will be serving alcohol as usual but it wont be allowed in the auditorium,” said Conner.
To keep up with all of the events that are planned in the coming months, the civic also has a new website. www.Redding Civic.com
