The discussion comes as city officials plan to meet with representatives of Bank of America this week to go over the lease agreement for the venue and dig through other details, City Manager Joseph Scherer confirmed.

At the heart of these talks will be the possible renegotiating of the lease packaging, Scherer said.

“Hopefully they're going to be willing to work us,” Scherer told council. “They're coming here. We're going to do that at the theater.”

Mayor Emery Doughtie said the question now is whether it is in the city's best interest to keep the venue open and try to find groups willing to rent it for shows or whether to close its doors.

He said while the city didn't make “a lot of money” renting the theater, it “didn't cost us much” to rent it. “We're getting calls from people wanting to do shows. I was against boarding it up the last time and I'm against boarding it this time.”

Councilman Ernest Bobbitt said, “If it's closed up it will go down fast.”

Bobbitt said he believed the city needed to start renting the building. “There would be some expense but it wouldn't be as bad as it sitting empty.”

Scherer said part of the discussions with Bank of America will also center on coming up with selling price.

Doughtie believes if the city can sell the venue, then it could look at a three- to five-year plan of paying off the remaining debt. “If interest rates go up it could take (the current $1.8 million payments) to $2 million. The theater is eight years old. I know with the way it's been used we're going to have maintenance problems. People are calling wanting to know what we are going to do. If we are going to rent it to the community, we have to have someone at the theater.”