By Ted AYALA

The Alex Theatre’s report of its financial health during the first quarter of the 2012-13 fiscal year was submitted on Tuesday to a joint meeting of the Glendale City Council and the successor agency to the former redevelopment agency.

A cornerstone of the revitalized Brand Boulevard corridor, the Alex has drawn concern from some residents over its future after Sacramento dissolved redevelopment agencies statewide. The Alex, which had been under the aegis of Glendale’s redevelopment agency, is prompting worry that under direct state control it may be used in a manner different from its current use – or even sold to a private bidder outright.

Currently the Alex serves as a home for a variety of musical and theatrical ensembles including the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Glendale Pops.

“The first quarter was a tremendously good one,” said Philip Lanzafame, the city’s executive officer of Economic Development and Asset Management, who submitted the report to council. “Income was up 8% on average [over numbers from the previous four years].”

Lanzafame noted that the theatre’s reserve balances was “extremely healthy” and that its general reserve at the end of the first quarter totaled $71,978.

Capital improvement projects that had faced uncertainty over their future earlier in the year are scheduled to go forward.

Lanzafame explained that “mechanisms” between the successor agency and Glendale Arts will ensure the improvements are completed. Among the most ambitious of these improvements are plans to expand the theatre.

According to Lanzafame, the cost for that project is estimated at $4.6 million – under the project’s $5.2 million budget. Because of the project’s stop-and-go history, exacerbated by the demise of redevelopment, the initial scope of the improvements has been scaled back.

  Ted Ayala