Mike Negra, executive director of the State Theatre Inc. in State College, tendered his resignation Tuesday. His last day will be Sept. 21.

Negra said he believes "it's time, for a variety of different reasons, that new blood and new leadership take (the theater) to the next level," though he declined to say specifically why he's leaving now. Negra has been executive director since the theater, 130 W. College Ave., reopened as a nonprofit arts venue in 2006.

"Definitely, Mike has been instrumental in making the theater possible for everyone," said theater board President Janice Somers. "We really do appreciate all that he has done and obviously wish him all the best."

Somers said Negra did not indicate to the board why he has chosen to resign. She said that "we really will be working hard to ensure a smooth transition.

"And we thank Mike," Somers went on. "Without Mike, there really would not have been the quality of theater that there is today."

Negra and his wife, Wanda White, were instrumental in setting the groundwork for the State Theatre concept and organization as early as 1999. As Negra said in an interview Tuesday, "we started it."

He left the theater board in late 2006 to join its staff as executive director. The first two executive directors at the State -- Jack Lafond and John Hook -- left the organization before the renovated facility opened its doors.

Asked about the State's most significant accomplishments, Negra said he is particularly pleased with its summer drama academy and its offering of free movie screenings in the summertime, done in partnership with Schlow Centre Region Library. He also is especially happy that local arts groups are able to use the venue for performances and other events.

"Those, to me, are exactly why we worked to open up this theater," Negra said. "Financially, it's difficult to maintain a theater based upon that, though. Financially, we've always been under-capitalized. Hopefully, that'll change."

He said the theater has become more wise over the past several years to the market demands in the State College area. Still, nonprofit theaters usually generate only 70 percent to 80 percent of their overall budgets from general operations -- ticket sales, venue-rental fees and the like.

The State does a little better than average on that score, gaining 85 percent to 86 percent of its annual budget from operating income, Negra said.

Asked whether the State has enough private donations and other income to sustain the other 14 percent to 15 percent for the long term, Negra deferred to the board.

Somers, presented with the same question Tuesday evening, said this:

"I think all nonprofits in the past year have had challenges in fundraising. I think that's happened everywhere. We continue to look for more ways to expand our fundraising efforts and expand our support from very small groups to large donors. It's all important."

She emphasized that the theater's summertime membership drive was "very successful" and "indicates that people are willing to support the theater."

Speaking for herself, Somers said she would like to see the theater continue to make itself a home for "a lot of local nonprofits so that those who need a stage can have a stage. ... We want to make it more of a community home," in addition to hosting some national acts that come to State College.

Negra said the theater has made some progress in becoming more friendly to nonprofits. When it opened in 2006, it cost $3,500 to rent the theater for a day -- and the price applied to any organization. Now there's a separate daily rate for nonprofits -- $1,750 -- and a higher price charged to for-profits: $2,250.

The organization managed to lower the rates through private fundraising and assistance from the family of Helen and the late Sidney Friedman, Negra said. He said the family's assistance helped to relieve some of the theater's debt.

"It reduced our operating expenses by a lot of money so that ... our overhead was reduced, and thus we could bring our prices down," Negra said.

He said he's proud of where the organization stands today. Really, Negra said, "the only other thing we could have done was to have more capitalization." More capitalization earlier on would have pushed venue-rental fees lower and helped bring in more groups at a lower cost, he said.

"The thing about that is, it doesn't signify a failure; it signifies a goal," Negra went on. "To me, I think we can accomplish that. I hope we can continue that" progress toward better capitalization.

Negra said he believes the theater could, at some point, become fully self-sustaining. But that would require "us getting out of debt. And I think it would take an endowment fund that we could pull from, to allow us to open up the theater for cheaper rentals but still not hurt the operational profit and loss of the theater."

Without the community's ongoing support, Negra said, the theater can't continue to thrive.

As for his own next act, he said he's not sure what it will be. He said he plans to take some time off and perhaps do some traveling.

"No one's irreplaceable; no one's indispensable," he said. "I've gotten it to this point. I think it's high time that somebody else comes in and takes it to the next level.

"I'm hoping that's what they'll be able to do."

Related content

• Why We Shouldn't Take the State Theatre or Schlow for Granted