Management of Tower Theatre in Fresno will have a new face. Who’s reaching for the keys?

One of the questions that remained unanswered following the $6.5 million purchase of the Tower Theatre this summer was who exactly would be in charge of managing daily operations at the 83-year-old landmark moving forward.

Officially, the property is now owned by the city.

But even as escrow was closing, councilmembers said the city would seek proposals for a new manager to replace the interim operator in a process that would take 60 to 90 days.

Last month, the city of Fresno started collecting résumés.

Looking at the city of Fresno’s online request portal, eight bids were received for the request, which closed Nov. 4.

The bids represent a mix of local, regional and out-of state interests — property management companies, long-time event promoters, a community arts non-profit and the theater’s management team.

Sterling Ventures/Scottland Concerts/Team Neville

Sterling Venue Ventures, Scottland Concerts and Team Neville are proposing a three-way partnership to run the theater.

Each entity would bring its contacts and expertise.

Sterling Venue Ventures is owned by Lance Sterling, a venue owner and concert promoter who co-found the House of Blues. The company already owns and/or operates several venues in Southern California, including the Canyon in Agoura Hills, the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills and the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.

It also produces concerts at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank and the Libbey Bowl in Ojai.

Scottland Concerts is the promotions company from Scott Pedersen, a long-time Central Valley promoter who has brought concerts (mostly smooth jazz) to the Tower Theatre and also the Saroyan Theater, the Bastille in Hanford and the Fox Theater in Visalia.

Pedersen was the go-to promoter for Woodward Park’s amphitheater in the late 1990s and booked Jazz singer Al Jarreau to headline its inaugural event — the two-day AT&T Smooth Jazz Festival.

The theater’s on-site box office and technical direction would be run through the Fresno-based promotions company Team Neville.

This is a known entity.

Susan Neville managed the Tower box office for nearly two decades and her son worked as technical director and lighting designer until 2020. Most recently, the team has been presenting concerts at the Painted Table’s event center.

Fresno Arts Council

Since the news of the sale, some community arts groups have been fearful that new management could render the theater inaccessible to local, independent organizations. Some floated the idea that a nonprofit organization could run the theater, with input from the arts community, perhaps through representation on an arts oversight board.

Enter the Fresno Arts Council.

In October, Arts Council Executive Director Lilia Gonzales-Chavez said the group didn’t have any innate interest in running theater’s day-to-day operations, but that it would be reviewing the city’s request and would make a proposal if necessary.

Tower Theatre Productions

As part of the sale, the theater’s former owner, Laurence Abbate, continues to handle promotions at the Tower as the interim operator until a replacement is named.

It appears Abbate is angling to keep the job.

His company, Tower Theatre Productions, is listed using the theater’s address, email and phone number.

Olive Branches Property Management

Tamisha Bourn is a realtor, property manager operating out of Georgia.

Her company, Olive Branches Property Management, was founded in Marietta in 2017 and does commercial and residential real estate and property management, mostly in Atlanta. The company has also worked on the west coast in Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles, where it worked with the city’s housing authority until 2020.

In an email to The Bee, Bourn says she was born and raised on the west coast and has connections in Fresno.

The promoters

Eddy Burgos’ Numbskull Shows certainly has its credentials in event promotions.

The company has been booking concerts for 30-plus years and has been operating in Fresno for two decades at least. The name should be known to anyone interested in seeing punk rock, indie, hip hop, reggae, metal, hardcore country, jazz, blues, alternative or experimental bands come through town.

To quote the Numbskull Shows website: “If you have made music of any counter-culture significance over the last three decades and performed in California, chances are you have graced the floor or stage of a Numbskull show.”

It promotes concerts — from coffee shop and nightclub acts to amphitheater tours — at venues in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, as well as in the East Bay, Bakersfield and Antelope Valley.

In Fresno, Numbskull has been behind performances at the Woodward Park Amphitheater (Atmosphere and Iration); Rainbow Ballroom (Tyler the Creator in 2016 and Ghost in 2017) and Tioga-Sequioa Brewing Company (Durand Jones and the Indications played a sold-out show in August).

In 2013, Burgos became part of the ownership team at Strummer’s nightclub in the Tower District and operates the venues with a weekly calendar of touring concerts, comedy and DJ nights and other events.

Tully Huffaker, meanwhile, is the Cumbia guy in the Fresno area.

While he has hosted events across genres under the moniker Definitive Productions, he is best known for promoting the Columbian dance music, specifically with his Cumbiatron brand.

In September, he hosted the California Cumbia Festival at Park Place Fresno.

Huffaker was also music director for the short-lived classic hip hop radio station “Rewind 105.5“ and the promoter behind 2018’s Burn Out Music Art and Cannabis Festival, which was billed as the first legal, marijuana-related festival to happen after the sale of recreational marijuana became legal in California. It was ultimately canceled by the city of Tulare.

An eventual city council vote

According to the city, within the next month the responses will be evaluated by a review committee comprised of representatives from the city “and other relevant entities.” That committee will then make a recommendation to the city based on “criteria related to qualifications, city objectives, demonstrated experience, financial capacity, soundness” and other criteria, according to the request for proposal.

The city, or course, has the ultimate authority and can reject any of the bids and any agreement will eventually be subject to Fresno City Council approval.