Falco wins Mandel Center alumni award

The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at CWRU and the Mandel Center Alumni Association will honor Art Falco of the Playhouse Square Foundation with its seventh annual Leadership in Nonprofit Management Award at a noon luncheon Monday, June 25 at Windows on the River at the Powerhouse in the Flats.

The keynote speaker will be former Clevelander Sara Bloomfield, director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since 1999. As executive director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council from 1988-94, she played a major role in the creation of the museum and was responsible for its 1993 opening events, which attracted more than 10,000 people and involved 11 heads of state, including President Bill Clinton and Israeli President Chaim Herzog.

The award luncheon is open to the public, and the cost is $35. For reservations, call 368-1687.

Falco is president and chief executive officer of Playhouse Square Foundation, which operates downtown Cleveland's five-theater, 10,000-seat performing arts center that attracts more than one million patrons to over 800 performances each year. He also serves as president of the Playhouse Square Development Corporation, which is engaged in real estate development in the theater district and was co-developer of the Wyndham Cleveland Hotel at Playhouse Square.

Falco joined the foundation as chief financial officer in 1985, was promoted to vice president for finance and administration in 1988, and became president in late 1991.

Henry Eaton, a foundation trustee for 20 years and current chairman of the board, nominated Falco for the Mandel leadership award. "During nine-plus years as president," Eaton observed, "Art has successfully built upon a vision that has transformed Playhouse Square ... into America's second-largest performing arts center, an economic catalyst in Cleveland and an educational resource for all the region." Eaton cited numerous highlights of Falco's presidency, including:

• Balancing the budget every year, and extending the foundation's record to 15 years. The annual budget now exceeds $50 million-a nearly ninefold growth under Falco's leadership.
• Purchasing and renovating the Allen Theatre, the foundation's fourth theater
• Adding a fifth venue with the purchase and opening of the restored Hanna Theatre.
• Developing -- and completing a year ahead of schedule -- a $25 million campaign, which funded the Allen restoration and created a permanent endowment.
• Arranging financing for and acquiring the Hanna Building and the Bulkley Building.
• Developing, financing, constructing, and opening Ciao Cucina, the Mediterranean restaurant on Playhouse Square.
• Forming PSF Management Company to administer the foundation's portfolio of properties.

Falco also created and serves as treasurer of the Cleveland Theater District Development Corporation, the first special improvement district in the city.

A resident of Shaker Heights, Falco holds a B.S. in accounting and is a certified public accountant.

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