Civic Auditorium secures crucial funding through June, though future remains uncertain

The Civic Auditorium is safe from closure, for now. 

Redding City Council members used last night’s meeting to discuss the fate of the entertainment venue for more than two hours, debating on how to keep it open and what funding the city could allocate to Advance Redding, the nonprofit that runs the Civic. 

The meeting, which began shortly after 6:30 p.m. and went until around 11 p.m., took place after previous hours of discussion about the city’s revenue and budget, during which the city’s finance director told council members that they’re looking at a $3 million shortfall to both meet the budget and maintain the city’s 10% reserve by the end of this fiscal year. That’s in part due to sales tax not performing as well as previously projected, Finance Director Greg Robinett said.

Funding the Civic Auditorium would add more financial risk, but council members were determined to look for a solution to keep the entertainment venue open. 

The council mainly had difficulty settling on a short-term plan for funding the Civic, which risked closure if the city did nothing. Because of the city’s tight budget, council members had to determine how much they were willing to give to Advance Redding, facing the fact that they would likely have to cut funds from other sources in order to do so. 

“It does not feel like there are any good solutions here,” council member Erin Resner said.

The council eventually voted unanimously to fund the Civic for four more months, providing $116,000 each month starting on March 1. The funds will be coming from money in the city’s capital projects fund, which will be moved into the general fund to cover the four months of expenditures. Near the three-month mark, the council will return to discussions about the Civic to determine if the city should contribute further once the four months of funding are complete. That discussion will likely take place during the council’s second meeting in May. 

Further funding to the Civic will be dependent on specific contingencies required of Advance Redding by the council, mostly laid out by Resner. She and other council members informally agreed that in order for the city to continue providing funds to the Civic, there must be some sort of plan for long-term sustainability of the Civic that provides a reasonable benefit to the city.

Specifically, Resner said she wants Advance Redding to bring back a new, sustainable business model, become involved in conversations regarding the 25 to 50-year plan for the Northern Riverfront, provide quarterly financials to the city council and allow a member of the council to be appointed as a non-voting member to the nonprofit’s board. 

She said she also wants the city to have the ability to pull out of any long-term contract with Advance Redding if desired and suggested that city staff should bring back a request for proposals for the Civic, although the council didn’t vote on what that RFP would entail. 

Not including the funding allocated last night, the council has already allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Advance Redding over the last six months because of financial issues at the Civic. 

Last night, a dozen community members spoke during the agenda item’s public comment period, all in support of the Civic, with some getting choked up during their speeches over the thought of the venue closing. 

Yvonna Kuyper, the owner of Dance Depot, said her organization has been hosting performances at the Civic for years, saying that her business would be negatively impacted by its closure. 

“I understand the city faces difficult budgeting decisions,” she said, “but losing a one-of-a-kind opportunity asset like the Civic would create real hardship for local businesses and would feel like losing a piece of Redding itself.”

Hope Seth, a local business leader and board member of Advance Redding, also advocated against the closure of the Civic, bringing up that her children feel the venue makes the city of Redding less “boring.” 

“Closing now would not just be a pause, it would be an economic and cultural step backwards,” she said.

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2.4.2026 7:34 p.m.: This story was edited to correct a quote from a public commenter.

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