Coppell Chronicle Vol. 2, No. 28
Arts Center May Flip Script on Bookings • City to Keep Subsidizing Lyft Rides • Span Transports Seniors for a Few Bucks • Late-Night Poker Coming to Las Colinas
Happy Labor Day, everybody. One of the articles in this edition is about laborers, but I didn’t delay publication to coincide with the holiday. My tardiness is actually due to my own labors — both professionally and domestically — eating up too much of my time last week. Let’s get to it.
Arts Center May Flip Script on Bookings
The Coppell Arts Center’s resident companies have been getting first dibs when it comes to booking dates at the facility, but that policy’s days may be numbered.
Here’s how things work today:
The resident companies, such as Theatre Coppell and the Coppell Community Orchestra, submit the dates on which they would like to use the Arts Center’s various venues.
Once the Arts Center’s staff smooths out any potential conflicts between the resident groups, they book touring shows as part of the facility’s “presented season.” The first of those seasons will officially conclude on Friday evening with a performance by the bluegrass trio Damn Tall Buildings.
The Arts Center’s staff then tries to fill out the rest of the calendar with private events, which is how the facility makes money.
During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Arts Center Managing Director Ginene Delcioppo said the procedures above are locked in through September of 2024, per the resident companies’ use agreements.
“If we’re able to retool those facility-use agreements for October 1st of 2024,” Delcioppo told the council, “it can be cost-effective for us, but still be able to be the vessel for the resident companies to artistically produce the best shows that they can produce.”
Delcioppo said the 19 events in the Arts Center’s inaugural presented season will bring in an estimated $310,000 while costing an estimated $300,000. She said the 84 events put on by the resident groups cost the Arts Center $140,000 to host, but the facility will get back only $5,400; not all of the resident groups charge for admission, and the ones that do get to keep the bulk of that money.
The Arts Center’s bread and butter is private events. Delcioppo said the 51 of those events booked during the current fiscal year will generate an estimated $191,000 while costing just $60,000 to host. She didn’t put all of those figures on a single slide during her presentation, which begins at the 36:50 mark of this video, but I couldn’t help myself.
Delcioppo said the Arts Center had only two weekends out of 52 with no events, and one of those was Christmas weekend. During one weekend last month, the facility hosted a Friday party that went until midnight, a resident company event on Saturday morning, a birthday party on Saturday night that lasted until 1 a.m., and a pair of performances on Sunday that added up to a 12-hour workday.
“All the full-timers worked at least 57 hours that week in order to make that weekend happen,” said Delcioppo, who manages six other full-time employees plus five part-timers.
(If you weren’t aware that the Arts Center can be booked as a party venue, you may be interested to learn that Coppell residents get a 15 percent discount on the rental fee.)
When Council Member Kevin Nevels asked about lessons learned during the inaugural season, Delcioppo said, “The community has an appetite for a show that young and old can come to the show and enjoy at the same time.” She said Schoolhouse Rock Live! was “geared toward a very young crowd. It did not do well.” She also cited the speaking engagement with celebrity chef Carla Hall, whose appearance had to be rescheduled due to COVID, as one with a lot of empty seats.
“We are still in our learning phase,” Declioppo told the council, who probably thought that sounded familiar. A week earlier, Coppell Arts Center Foundation President Greg Goyne told them, “We’re still in learning mode, and I hope to stay in learning mode for some time to come.”
Goyne also told them that the foundation’s inaugural Arts Gala has been scheduled for Oct. 22 — at the Arts Center, of course. The dress code is “Rat Pack Chic,” so start shopping accordingly.
City to Keep Subsidizing Lyft Rides
Longtime subscribers may recall an article about the City of Coppell subsidizing Lyft rides for commuters. It looks like the pilot program will continue for at least another year.
The partnership between Coppell and the Denton County Transit Authority (DCTA) has been in place since 2019, and it is set to expire at the end of this month. During the City Council’s Aug. 23 work session, Director of Community Mindi Hurley sought permission to renew the agreement for another year.
Hurley said commuters who work in Coppell but live elsewhere use the service seven days a week, and they get picked up at six transit stations near the city limits:
DART’s Trinity Mills Station in Carrollton (buses and Green Line trains)
DART’s Belt Line Station in Irving (buses and Orange Line trains)
DART’s bus stop at Regent Boulevard and North Royal Lane in Irving
DART’s bus stop at Saintsbury Street and South Belt Line Road in Cypress Waters
DCTA’s Hebron Station in Lewisville (buses and the A-train)
Trinity Metro’s Grapevine/Main Street Station (TEXRail trains)
Hurley said Lyft provided about 1,400 rides in fiscal 2020, which was a lower number than expected due to the pandemic. Nearly 2,280 rides were provided in fiscal 2021, and Hurley projected that more than 2,300 would happen before the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
Coppell has budgeted $50,000 annually for the program, which covers ride fees paid to Lyft and administrative fees paid to DCTA. But the city has paid only $85,000 in total since the program began three years ago.
To put that in perspective, Council Member Mark Hill pointed out that being one of DART’s member cities would cost Coppell about $10 million annually.
“So this $50,000 that we’re paying to help get workers here versus mass transit is not a bad deal,” Hill said.
John Jun was the only council member who seemed eager to shift the Lyft costs to the participating businesses.
“Are we going to continue this funding every year — coming back, coming back?” he asked. “At what point are we going try to get that passed on to the businesses that actually utilizes it a lot? It’s part of their expense.”
In response to that, Kevin Nevels said $50,000 is a relative bargain to help keep businesses in Coppell.
“If we have to pitch in 50 grand a year to have that be a retention tool for millions of dollars in revenue for the city, I think that that’s an easy tradeoff,” Nevels said.
Hurley told the council that businesses sign up to offer the service to their employees, as opposed to workers signing up individually. DCTA and Lyft have not been able to provide data on how many riders are going to each business, but she said they’re working on it. That data will be necessary before the city can figure out what to charge businesses.
As you might expect, Hurley said most of the participating businesses are among the warehouses on the west side of town. But employees of restaurants, at least one grocery store, and Coppell ISD are using it as well.
“We feel like there’s potentially a different solution in the long term,” she said, “but right now we’re still at the phase where we really need to gather the data to figure out what that is.”
The council will formally renew the agreement with DCTA at one of their September meetings.
Span Transports Seniors for a Few Bucks
There is another Denton-based organization providing public transportation in Coppell. Span is a nonprofit that operates Denton County’s Meals on Wheels program, but it also offers affordable rides to Coppell residents who are at least 60 years old or are disabled.
The fee is $3 each way. Span will take eligible Coppell residents as far north as Music City Mall in Lewisville, as far east as the Interstate 35 corridor, as far south as Medical City Las Colinas, and as far west as the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Grapevine.
Diane Beck, Span’s Mobility Manager, recently told the Coppell City Council that her organization provided 340 trips to about 35 of our city’s residents in fiscal 2021. Normally, Span would ask the City of Coppell for money to help cover its costs, but Beck said federal funding from the CARES Act made such a request unnecessary this year.
Beck said Span’s trained and background-checked drivers provide more than just rides. “They deliver the message of hope, and are often the only visitor that person will see in a day,” she said.
If you know a Coppell resident who might need Span’s service, click here for more information.
Late-Night Poker Coming to Las Colinas
If you’ve ever suffered from insomnia and thought, “Man, I wish I could ante up at a nearby poker table right now,” you will be happy to read this news.
Texas Card House — which operates private clubs in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and the Rio Grande Valley — is expanding to Irving. It will take over what was once a Staples in Las Colinas Village, the shopping center along State Highway 114 that is already home to restaurants such as Hudson House, Jam + Toast, and The Ranch.
The Irving edition of Texas Card House will join that list of eateries, which will make it unique among its poker peers. This will be the first Texas Card House to include a restaurant, thanks to a zoning change approved by the Irving City Council on Thursday.
The established zoning for that location permitted Texas Card House to establish a private club offering poker games 24 hours a day. Thanks to the approved zoning change, the private club will be augmented by a publicly accessible bar and restaurant that will feature virtual golf bays and actual dart boards. Although Texas Card House will be open around the clock, alcohol sales will be limited to the hours permitted by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
Under Irving’s regulations, restaurants that serve alcohol must make at least 50 percent of their revenue from food; Texas Card House officials predicted a 56 percent/44 percent breakdown of food versus booze. CEO Ryan Crow said smart poker enthusiasts don’t want to be impaired when they play.
“It’s a skill game,” Crow said. “They see it as a sport of the mind. I know you think about people smoking cigars and having drinks, but that’s just not the reality of what happens.”
Council Member John Bloch, who’s apparently played a few hands in his day, agreed: “You need to be mentally there. You need to be paying attention. You can’t do that if you’re getting sloppy — at least I can’t.”
Council Member Oscar Ward asked how much revenue Irving could expect to receive from sales taxes. Because Texas Card House will be taxed on not only its food and beverages but also on its membership dues and access fees, Crow estimated he’ll be forking over about $65,000 per month. (At Texas Card House’s Dallas location, membership dues are $30 monthly or $300 annually; club access fees are $13 hourly, and Crow said members play for four hours on average.)
None of the council members asked the question I had after reviewing the floor plan: Did you properly place all of your toilets? Crow and his partners billed the publicly accessible bar and restaurant as a family-friendly business, and they even had Irving Schools Foundation CEO Crystal Scanio discuss her eagerness to use Texas Card House as a venue for fundraising events. Is it just me, or does it look like you’ll need to walk through the members-only poker area to relieve yourself?
Chronicle Crumbs
• McLaren, the luxury car manufacturer that recently moved its U.S. headquarters to our fair suburb, is going to wrap one of its vehicles in a Coppell resident’s artwork. That resident could be you if you submit your design by Sept. 12. Click here for more details.
• If you have children enrolled in Coppell ISD, make sure their teachers know that Sept. 12 is the application deadline for the Coppell ISD Education Foundation’s Educator Grant Program.
• Sept. 14 is the application deadline for iLead, Coppell ISD’s leadership training series for parents and community members who are interested in becoming informed leaders and advocates for the district’s students.
• Julie Johnson, the Democrat who represents Coppell in the Texas House, will host a campaign kickoff event starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday at 13305 Josey Lane in Farmers Branch. Her Republican challenger, Melisa Denis, will host a grand opening of her campaign headquarters between 3 and 6 p.m. on Sunday at 122 W. John Carpenter Freeway in Irving.
• The Coppell High School varsity volleyball team has a 22-7 record, and the Cowgirls begin district play on Friday at Plano West. They’ll then visit Lewisville and Flower Mound Marcus before their next home match, which is scheduled for Sept. 20 against Plano East.
• The Coppell High School varsity football team has a 2-0 record, which inspired this tweet from Greg Tepper, a CHS grad who is the managing editor of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. The Cowboys play at Keller Timbercreek on Friday, then have a week off before opening district play at home against Plano West on Sept. 23.
Community Calendar
Coppell Women’s Club: Musician and humorist Jackie Payne will share little-known stories behind familiar songs at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Church of the Apostles.
St. Ann Carnival: Coppell’s small-town version of the State Fair of Texas will take place from 5 to 11 p.m. on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
New Tech Car Wash: The New Tech High @ Coppell PTSO will host a fundraising car wash from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday behind the 7-Eleven at Denton Tap and Sandy Lake roads.
Coppell Lions Club SPOT Screenings: Lions Club members will conduct preliminary vision screenings for children 6 months to 5 years old — and any child with special needs — at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Organize Your Life – Travel Workshop: An expert organizer will share tips on how to prepare and pack for your next trip at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Patriot Day: The City of Coppell will mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at 8 a.m. on Sunday outside Coppell Town Center. The ceremony will feature the Coppell Fire and Police Color Guards along with the Fire Department Bagpipe and Drum Corps.
Join Girl Scouts in Coppell: Prospective Girl Scouts and their parents are invited to drop by the Cozby Library and Community Commons between 2 and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday to learn more about the program.
Cheer Bingo: The Coppell High School cheerleaders invite you to play bingo at their school at 6 p.m. on Sept. 16, when the football team has a bye. Admission is $15, and raffle tickets are $5.
Latin American Folklore & Dance: The Cozby Library and Community Commons will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a program highlighting the culture and traditions of Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela. It’s scheduled from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 18.
A subsidy of over 140K to Coppell resident groups in addition to first dibs on scheduling seems like a very generous tax payer giveaway. Wondering the rationale on signing such a generous agreement. Perhaps a future chronicle article could address this.