By KATHRYN PALON
Contributing Writer
A lawsuit over leadership and governance at the Michigan Theatre of Jackson was settled Wednesday, clearing the way for leadership changes, a larger interim board and a membership vote on the organization’s future within 90 days, attorneys for 56 plaintiff members said Wednesday.
The resignations of Nancy Whitmore and Kathryn Snyder were accepted, and the board has been expanded to 15 directors in what attorneys described as an effort to stabilize the historic downtown theater and broaden community input.
The newly appointed directors are Rebecca Armstrong, John Butterfield, Richard Collins, Philip J. Curtis, Ronald Ellison, Martha Fuerstenau, John Macchia Jr. and Hattie Oliver, according to a statement from Curtis, Curtis & Brelinski, P.C.
Later on Wednesday, the expanded Board of Directors held a special meeting where it elected new officers and officially turned the page toward a brighter future.
Philip J. Curtis, managing attorney of Curtis, Curtis & Brelinski, P.C. and Martha Fuerstenau, president/CEO of American 1 Credit Union, were elected as the new co-chairs of the Board.
Curtis, a longtime Jackson attorney who successfully chaired the Theatre’s $6.2 million capital campaign, and Fuerstenau, a highly respected business and nonprofit leader, will share the helm as the Board works to rebuild community and donor confidence, and restore the Theatre’s operations.
“We are incredibly honored to step into these roles during such a pivotal moment for the Michigan Theatre,” Co-Chairs Curtis and Fuerstenau said in a joint statement. “Our immediate priority is to ensure this beloved institution is stable, transparent, and responsive to the community that saved it. Yesterday’s meeting was highly productive, and the energy in the room was entirely focused on moving forward and doing what is right for the Theatre, its members, and the Jackson community.”
