“We are very exhausted” – Milton Theatre closes due to COVID-19 pandemic
MILTON, Del. – In Delaware, the Milton Theatre is shutting down for the second time this year as a result of the latest capacity limits issued by Governor John Carney. The theatre is now limited to a maximum of 10 people and they say with that kind of limit in place it doesn’t make sense for them to stay open.
“That amount of people is not going to pay for the staff, for the artists, for the electricity,” said Milton Theatre Marketing Director John Paul Lacap.
The theatre says its closure not only takes a toll on the community but also on the staff they had to furlough as a result of the shutdown.
“We were not able to hire the employees that we used to have and now the very few that we were able to rehire we have to furlough again,” said Lacap.
“Personally, that’s really the tough part so it’s not just us who need support, but also all the other artists, performers, the employees that we have who were affected by this,” said Lacap.
The theatre says they’ve already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars this year and without any income from ticket sales it’ll be a lot harder to pay for things like lighting and heating. They add it’ll be harder for them to reopen something that would be devastating.
“It will be harder to reopen just because we are very exhausted,” said Lacap, “It’s very difficult to continue changing how you operate as a business because of the restrictions.”
That’s why they’re hoping the community will show their support and send them donations. The Milton Chamber of Commerce says they want to help the theatre adding that its closure will have an impact on small businesses.
“It could potentially definitely mean less traffic in the downtown area particularly on the weekends, particularly in the evenings when they have their shows and that’s not good for anyone,” said Milton Chamber of Commerce Co-Director Anne Brown.
“All the restrictions are certainly understandable from a public health perspective, but they’re just so harmful to our local businesses and to venues like the Milton Theatre,” said Brown.
Click here for more information on how you can make a donation to the Milton Theatre.
Milton Councilwoman Randi Meredith tells 47ABC: “I have no control over any of this in my elected position. The Milton Theatre is very important to our community and has spurred a revival of Milton over the last few years. I encourage anyone who is in the position to make a donation to the Milton Theater, to do so, with the hopes that we will have a theater to return to when our situation improves. I am hopeful that the incoming Biden Administration will enact a program similar to the Federal Art Project that was part of The New Deal during the Great Depression to revive our cultural arts after the devastating effects of this pandemic.”
