The history of the Civic over the period 1980-2000 is a demonstration in both success and failure. The major failure was the purchase of the building by a for-profit corporation. The major renovation and retrofitting that were necessary in order to turn the building into a functional multi-purpose building were simply too extensive and too costly to make a for-profit enterprise a success, even under the best of circumstances. Over 20 years, more than $1.6 million in grants, loans, and private investment were put into the building.16 Almost none of these funds would have been available under the for-profit structure. The successes are that the major structural items have been addressed and improvements have been made that make the building more rentable. The tenant spaces are virtually 100 percent rented at all times. The Ensemble Theatre continues to do well in its space. The New Spirit Revival Center has thrived in its location and has beautifully restored its Great Hall area. The major rental areas have all been redecorated and the catering area is slated to be rented to a major Cleveland area caterer who intends to sponsor Sunday brunch for the church-goers and provide a linked catering program with the Civic's hall rentals. This will benefit both the caterer and the Civic's income stream. The resolution of the tax-exempt status and the payoff of the county loan will dramatically improve the Civic's cash flow situation.

The major unknown and the one problem that the Civic must succeed in addressing is its ability to rent out the daily rental spaces. If all of the daily rental spaces were rented all of the time at the published rate, the Civic would have annual income of over one million dollars. If the Civic can achieve about 20 percent of its maximum occupancy, it can succeed in sustaining itself and make necessary additional capital investment in the building.

It is clear that the most important ingredient in the success of the Civic was a dedicated group of individuals who were committed to the project and were willing to spend the time and energy needed to make the project work. If a developer were to apply normal profit and loss calculations to this project, the project would have never been started. Temple Associates originally bought the building because the three general partners were dedicated, civic-minded businessmen whose first priority was to save the building. The amount of donated hours in the Civic project was enormous. If the Executive Director were paid the prevailing wage for a job of its magnitude and if all of the volunteer hours of the original partners and the Foundation board members were charged at a normal rate, the project would never have been possible.