San Juan Community Theater asks LTAC to fund rigging-system safety upgrade

Lee Grooms, executive director of the San Juan Community Theater, and artistic director Nathan Kessler Jeffrey asked the San Juan County lodging tax advisory committee to support a facilities grant to upgrade the theater’s aging rigging system. Kessler Jeffrey told the committee the current system uses sandbags and cannot comfortably hold newer, heavier lighting instruments, creating a repeated operational risk.

“The rigging system is the system that lowers and raises the lighting and the scenery above the stage,” Kessler Jeffrey said, explaining that the new cable-based, computerized system is load-sensing and would halt if something catches so the theater does not “tear it apart.” He emphasized the project is forward-compatible with future upgrades and that the new lights also produce energy savings roughly equivalent to “the cost of a month’s electricity operating a home.”

The presenters framed their request as a partial, not all-or-nothing, ask: they said they can accept funding at multiple levels and are seeking the tail end of funding after other sources have been tapped. Kessler Jeffrey noted the investment is intended to serve the facility long-term; he described replacing a 30-year-old system and argued the upgrades will enable the theater to book larger touring artists and improve volunteer and student safety by reducing ladder work.

The committee took no formal vote during the presentation; members thanked the presenters and did not press follow-up questions. The theater’s presentation emphasized safety improvements, ongoing programming benefits for locals and visitors, and energy savings that could help justify a facilities award.