{"id":2458953,"date":"2020-05-28T23:04:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T05:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/wheeler-to-remain-dark-during-covid-19-crisis\/"},"modified":"2020-05-28T23:04:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T05:04:01","slug":"wheeler-to-remain-dark-during-covid-19-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/wheeler-to-remain-dark-during-covid-19-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheeler to remain dark during COVID-19 crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-1024x678.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-2048x1357.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Interim Executive Director Nancy Lesley stands outside of the Wheeler Opera House on Thursday, May 21, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/><em>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/em><br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/wheeler-to-remain-dark-during-covid-19-crisis\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1-1024x678.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wheelerexecutivedirector-atd-052920-1.jpg\"> Buy Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In any other spring season, the Wheeler Opera House team would be focused on booking performers for the winter, but these are not normal times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe world has changed; normal circumstances don\u2019t apply anymore,\u201d said Nancy Lesley, who was named interim executive director of the Wheeler in April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She replaces <a id=\"N0x14b1a90N0x164ad50:N0x14b1a90N0x13f5400\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/search-for-aspens-opera-house-executive-director-could-take-most-of-2020\/\">Gena Buhler<\/a>, who after five years, stepped down earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lesley, who also is the city\u2019s director of special events and marketing, said last week that she\u2019s been communicating with the Wheeler\u2019s booking agency, and it\u2019s a wait-and-see situation amid COVID-19 public health orders that currently limit the size of gatherings to 50 people.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Even if public health orders get to gatherings of 250 people, that would only fill half of the 500-seat venue, so booking performers for that kind of capacity presents a challenge as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the meantime, the Wheeler is closed for construction so crews can work on a few projects to improve the <a id=\"N0x14b1a90N0x164adb0:N0x14b1a90N0x13f5640\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wheeleroperahouse.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">city-owned historic facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The next event on the Wheeler\u2019s calendar is the Aspen Mountain Film Festival in late August.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Whether that show goes on remains to be seen, as <a id=\"N0x14b1a90N0x164ae10:N0x14b1a90N0x13f57f0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-postponed-to-2021\/\">major events<\/a> for the summer have canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lesley said while she fills the role temporarily, she\u2019s spending time in the community and talking about the Wheeler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m really kind of on a listening tour,\u201d she said. \u201cThe health of our community is important, getting people here when the time is right and when we have safety measures in place, and how do we how do we utilize this community asset?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lesley also is integrating the staff from the Wheeler and the events department to work on what the summer and fall activities will look like.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMy favorite word right now is being nimble. \u2026 How do we be nimble, how do we respond to the needs, how do we support our community?\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s really the focus now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The <a id=\"N0x14b1a90N0x164aed0:N0x14b1a90N0x13f5b50\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/marketing-campaign-ready-to-make-the-dream-of-aspen-a-covid-19-reality\/\">Aspen Chamber Resort Association<\/a> is working with <a id=\"N0x14b1a90N0x164af30:N0x14b1a90N0x13f5be0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspens-arts-culture-scene-gets-help-from-citys-relief-fund\/\">arts and cultural organizations<\/a> to come up with smaller events that are designed to activate the community and economy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lesley said she is open to ideas on whether the Wheeler is a potential venue, but also is taking a cautious approach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI don\u2019t ever want to say anything\u2019s on the table or off the table but there\u2019s so many factors that you need to look at and we\u2019re under the public health orders,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re in the very infancy phases of what does the cleaning situation look like and sterilization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She said she plans to send a survey out to community members, users and staff to see what they want.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cA lot of this is going to be people-driven and how comfortable are people coming back,\u201d Lesley said. \u201cWe want to be very responsive rather than being driven by an absolute schedule. And I think it\u2019s far more important to listen to the community, respond accordingly than simply look at a calendar and how things were done in the past and say, \u2018Just because this happened, this is the path forward.\u2019 And I don\u2019t think that\u2019s appropriate right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Wheeler board chairman Chip Fuller said the board of directors is ready to get the search process for the next executive director under way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe sooner the better, because it\u2019s going to take a long time,\u201d he said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At its March 4 board meeting, which was just days before a COVID-19 outbreak occurred in Aspen, the board discussed the search process, noting that it took six months to find Buhler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some board members voiced support for creating two positions \u2014 an artistic director and a director of facilities \u2014 because it\u2019s too much work for one person and requires very different skill sets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think it\u2019s something worth looking at,\u201d Fuller said, adding there are potential flaws to having two leaders as well. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge job for one person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It will ultimately be up to the City Manager\u2019s Office to decide who fills the position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">There is no timeline for hiring a new executive director, according to city officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Newly hired Assistant City Manager Diane Foster will give the Wheeler board an update at its June 17 meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lesley didn\u2019t indicate whether she\u2019ll apply for the permanent position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI am right here, right now,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to give my best every single day for as many days as we possibly can, and that\u2019s really taking all my energy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m really trying to get my arms around everything and the future will work itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/wheeler-to-remain-dark-during-covid-19-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interim Executive Director Nancy Lesley stands outside of the Wheeler Opera House on Thursday, May 21, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Buy Photo In any other spring season, the Wheeler Opera House team would be focused on booking performers for the winter, but these are not normal times. \u201cThe world has changed; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 05:48:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}