San Antonio’s Scottish Ceremony fraternal order has given the San Antonio Philharmonic till Friday, Nov. 28 to vacate the group’s historic downtown constructing, a letter obtained by Present reveals.
The doc alerts a attainable break up between the 2 organizations after they reached an settlement slightly greater than a yr in the past to make the imposing 1924 construction and its 2,200-seat auditorium the orchestra’s everlasting residence.
Many of the Philharmonic’s musicians beforehand served within the now-defunct San Antonio Symphony, the Tobin Heart’s resident arts group. Nevertheless, the efficiency area by no means supplied a return invitation to the brand new orchestra, forcing it to hire out efficiency areas till it inked a cope with the Scottish ceremony in October 2024.
James Carter IV, the lawyer for the Scottish Ceremony whose title seems on the order to vacate, declined remark.
Philharmonic Govt Director Roberto Treviño mentioned he wasn’t at liberty to debate the letter aside from to say the orchestra’s lawyer is in talks with Carter.
“The attorneys for each side are speaking, and the communication is sweet,” mentioned Treviño, a former San Antonio metropolis councilman. “We hope to have an announcement quickly clearing this up.”
Whereas the letter states the Philharmonic can not “use or occupy” the constructing after this Friday, it does enable the orchestra to hire the auditorium for its scheduled live shows on Dec. 12 and 13 in addition to Jan. 16 and 17. To take action, the humanities group can be required to pay a flat price of $2,000 per efficiency a minimum of three days upfront.
The doc additionally states that the Philharmonic can proceed to make use of the constructing for apply periods at a price of $300 for as much as 4 hours.
Each the charges for the performances and apply periods are beneath market charges, in keeping with the letter, and are “supplied to assist facilitate your transition to a brand new location.”
The discover doesn’t state what points have come up between the Scottish Ceremony and the Philharmonic, who trumpeted the settlement throughout a public ceremony final fall as a win-win scenario that might profit the native arts group.
“Considered one of our major tenets is to advertise public training of the humanities. That’s what this constructing was constructed for, and that’s what occurred right here for half a century,” mentioned Robert Park, then-board chairman for the San Antonio Scottish Ceremony chapter advised the Present on the time. “I’m glad that it’s occurring once more.”
Throughout the signing ceremony, Treviño advised the Present that an structure agency estimates the auditorium would want $5 million to $10 million upgrades to turn into a long-term residence for the Philharmonic and will require some $50 million in enhancements over the long run.
On the time, Treviño mentioned the Philharmonic would search native, state and federal funding to conduct the upgrades and launch a capital marketing campaign to drag in further cash from donors.
Nevertheless, it’s unclear what enhancements have occurred on the getting old constructing since then.
Momentary heating and cooling gear has been in use at some current Philharmonic performances, and the construction nonetheless seems to be working towards assembly full People with Disabilities Act necessities.
What’s extra, the Philharmonic stays embroiled in a number of lawsuits over who controls its operations. Final yr, Treviño advised the Present that the group had been “impacted financially” by the continued court docket circumstances, which led to the postponement of a minimum of two performances final fall.
Final month, the Philharmonic postponed its Classics III live shows, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 7-8, marking the second time one of many orchestra’s fall 2025 occasions has been rescheduled for a later date.
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