Chattanooga Theatre Centre looking for new director; former director let go in December

Chattanooga Theatre Centre sign / Staff file photo
Chattanooga Theatre Centre sign / Staff file photo

The Chattanooga Theatre Centre is looking for a new executive director after the board of directors decided in early December to part ways with Todd Olson, who had been on the job for about three years.

Olson's last day was Dec. 17, but the theater sent out an e-blast on Thursday announcing that it was accepting applications for its top position. Marketing Director Julie Van Valkenburg said the move was simply a "personnel change" and that the time between the firing and the announcement yesterday was to allow the board to clearly define what they expected from the next executive director.

"If you look at the job description, it is very thorough. We need a multi-talented person who is thinking with both sides of the brain. The person needs to have an artistic side and a business side."

The deadline for applications is March 4.

The 40,000-square-foot CTC is unusual for a community theater in a city this size in that it has a 380-seat Main Theatre and a 200-seat Circle Theatre. It also has scene and costume shops and storage space, dressing rooms, classrooms and rehearsal space, an office suite, a ticket booth and lobby. And it can generate non-theater-related income from the parking spaces it owns.

Van Valkenburg said the CTC is in a "good place" from an artistic and business place, but that it needed a change at the top.

- Compiled by Barry Courter

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