After meeting in closed session for one hour and 25 minutes today, Roanoke Rapids City Council unanimously found Lafayette Gatling and L&M Hospitality in default. They also, with a no vote from Carl Ferebee, voted to end the contract drafted March 9 of last year with the Chicago businessman, who owes the city $182,000.

In the letter ending the contract with Gatling, L&M will be given a timeframe in which he must vacate the building located off the intersection of Highway 125 and Interstate 95, Mayor Emery Doughtie said following the meeting.

“It’s a new day,” the mayor said. “I’m sure the city manager will see what we can do different. We don’t want the theater to sit idle.”

Doughtie said the city will look at short term solutions for bringing shows to the theater.

The mayor said there was no choice because the city and Gatling had a contract. What happened, however, to lead to today’s vote was based on several factors. “I think certainly there have not been a lot of shows,” Doughtie said. “It could be a problem with revenue. It could be a lack of having knowledgeable people. I think the economy was the whole downfall to it.”

The city is committed to making the theater work. “Anytime you have a venue vacant it goes down in value.”

Doughtie said the city wants to get shows booked at the theater soon. “We’re at the season tourist traffic is traveling up and down I-95.”

Whether the city will pursue the $182,000 Gatling owes is not known, the mayor said. “Sometimes it’s not in the best interest to spend $2 to make a dollar.”

The mayor said he is committed to not raising taxes. “I’m just not about a tax increase.”

While Greg Lawson made the motion to find Gatling in default, the councilman said, “I appreciate Mr. Gatling and L and M Hospitality partnering with the city in a difficult time. That has helped us. The economy is such the terms could not be met.”

Lawson said the city wants to turn the venue around. “We’re not finger pointing. We say, ‘thank you’ for all they’ve done.”

City Manager Paul Sabiston admitted “the budget will be painful” but believes the city can continue to do its job. “We’re not expecting employee layoffs,” he said, adding budget cuts will come from the proposed capital improvement plan.

The city is considering backup plans, the city manager said. “We’ve got a few things we’re working on. We’re going to be trying to get acts in as soon as possible. We may work with a third party management team. If it works it could be long term. We want to get the theater operating again with the same shows that occurred a year or two ago.”

Sabiston said the city wants to find appropriate management which can “build the credibility of the theater back.”

What ending the theater contract with Gatling means is the loss of around $74,000 a month and large balloon payment in July of more than $600,000, Sabiston said. “We have a theater reserve this year. We can ride it out in the near future. We need to get it active again.”

Sabiston indicated the decision was not made with malice. “We appreciate what the Gatlings tried to do.”

What happened? “I’m not sure,” the city manager said. “It’s hard for me to assume what he had in mind and expected.”

Councilman Ernest Bobbitt said he was appreciative of Gatling and said of today’s vote, “They thought long and hard. It wasn’t a knee jerk reaction.”