Booycott the Civic Center Theater?

PEORIA, IL -- Here's a comment I sent to the Peoria Civic Center Authority Board for its Feb. 24, 2022 meeting:

To the Peoria Civic Center Authority Board

For the Feb. 24, 2022 meeting, public comment.

As a long time Broadway series subscriber, I am dismayed by what has occurred at the theater:

1. The hall carpets are filthy and should be replaced.
2. The outsourcing of the Broadway series to a Denver group cost jobs in Peoria.  For shame!
3. The Denver group wants to move tickets to cell phones and charge extra fees for paper tickets, a huge mistake, given the age of the audiences and the traditions of the series.
4. The lack of paper programs is another mistake, and could be paid for with ads that the audience enjoys reading.
5. The awful security system is just plain stupid. I saw elderly women sent back in the cold and dark to their cars to place their purses there.  How long  will it be before thieves figure this out and rob them? This discriminates against women and puts them at risk. Other venues don’t do this.  Go back to the previous system of metal detectors if you must, or drop it for the theater events.

All of this adds up to a substandard experience, unpleasant to theater audiences who will be spending their money and time on other places, on your watch.  Beware.

 -- Elaine Hopkins