I will commend Mr. Toll with what seems to be a financial turnaround at the Pavilion. He has proven something I have known a long time about this city, the private money is out there, you just have to dig in the right places;
By tapping friends and acquaintances in the region, he and his supporters began a grassroots fund drive, which quickly amassed more than $720,000 in cash and in-kind contributions.
Maybe the mayor should tap Mr. Toll to raise private money for the Events Center?
Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether likes Toll’s style.
“I have had the opportunity to work with Larry on other projects and with nonprofits in the past, so when I heard he was leading the Pavilion, I shouted out a hearty ‘Hallelujah,’ ” Huether said.
“Larry is bringing even more business acumen to the Pavilion, and we are already reaping the rewards because of it,” Huether said.
But is business acumen enough to run an arts and entertainment facility? Who knows, but it pays pretty good;
Toll’s salary is $99,000 annually as head of the many divisions there:
Actually, this kind of surprised me. As I understood it, I thought Toll was volunteering his time, or at least it sounded like that in the local media. Not that I don’t think he should get paid for what he does, I was just a little taken back that he was getting paid at all.
While past leaders had arts backgrounds, Toll does not. That’s OK, says Dan Rykhus, vice chairman of the Pavilion’s board of trustees. Choosing shows and tending to the artistic details is the job of the staff, said Rykhus, president and CEO of Raven Industries.
Toll says he relied on his staff to schedule the performing arts seasons. The lineup includes offerings from Broadway, comedy, music, dance, family productions and theater for young people. His visual arts staff arranges for shows in the galleries, too.
This is also another reason why I was surprised he is receiving a salary. If he is just simply and advocate and fundraiser for the facility, why not just pay him a commission? Which I get to point out;
Perhaps someone with more of an arts background should lead the Pavilion, says artist Scott L. Ehrisman, who says he’s a Pavilion supporter but who sometimes voices criticism of the management and funding.
“Mr. Toll is a former executive from the corporate world, much like our mayor, and I find Mike struggling with the bureaucratic world,” Ehrisman said. Department heads are running the Pavilion, with Toll as more of a figurehead, he said.
“I still think the Pavilion needs a director with actual entertainment experience, much like the late Russ DeCurtin the Arena had,” Ehrisman said.
“I think the Pavilion needs to get more diverse in their entertainment choices,” he said. “They will have to compete very soon with the Grand Falls Casino, and now is the time to act, not to just talk about it.”
I think the best thing the Pavilion could do is bring in a strong entertainment director and change Toll’s title to chief fundraiser. Like I said above, I think it is fantastic he is squeezing money out of some of the moldy old wallets of the pathetically rich in Sioux Falls. Now it’s time the Pavilion focus on their original vision and a motto that got me to vote for the facility and support it in the past,
“Something for Everyone.”
We are still waiting over a decade later.