RFP Deadline for Peekskill's Paramount is Next Week

Editor's Note: The following was release was submitted by the City of Peekskill. The following release was submitted by the Peekskill school district. If you would like to post your news to Patch, click here.

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The City of Peekskill announced that it is moving forward as planned in the RFP process to identify a new entity to assume leadership of the Paramount Theater, one of the city’s key cultural attractions and community assets.

The 1025-seat theater, which is owned by the City of Peekskill, was closed temporarily in October when its management was unable to meet expenses. 

According to Mary F. Foster, Mayor of the City of Peekskill: “There has been significant interest from both for-profit and not-for-profit entities as the City works to identify the right operator for the Paramount Theater in 2013 and beyond."

 Separately, a legal process to formally dissolve the theater’s former operator – a nonprofit corporation known as the Paramount Center for the Arts – was initiated by the State of New York Supreme Court.

 “Notices surrounding the theater’s former operator will continue to be published in the press until that entity is legally dissolved,” Mayor Foster advised. “Rest assured, that is a wholly unrelated process that has zero impact on our search. The City of Peekskill is deeply committed to the successful renewal of the Paramount Theater and is on track to deliver a qualified and experienced theater operator-manager candidate in mid-January.”

 Last month, the City of Peekskill issued an RFP for the lease, management, and operation of the Paramount Theater. As outlined in the RFP, the City has fielded questions from interested parties with experience in “theatrical management involving live performance, music, and conference activities” since a guided facility tour on November 29.

 The following schedule for proposers remains in effect:

• Proposal Submission Deadline — Dec. 19, 2012 at 11 a.m.
• Presentations/Interviews — Jan. 7, 2013
• Selection — Jan. 14, 2013

 “Transitions provide new opportunities and the Paramount is no exception,” Mayor Foster continued. “We look forward to partnering with the theater’s new leadership team in order to create a thriving downtown and a prosperous Peekskill.” 

Fifty miles north of Manhattan, The City of Peekskill is among the historic Hudson River towns in Westchester. Formerly one of New York’s manufacturing bases, Peekskill underwent economic revitalization in the 1990s. It is home today to many small businesses and medical facilities, as well as a thriving downtown hub that has attracted galleries, coffee houses, restaurants, and artists’ studios. The Paramount Theater is an important component of that hub. Visit www.cityofpeekskill.comfor more information.