MOUNT VERNON — In a about-face turnaround, the Skagit Performing Arts Council has decided not to drop out of the management partnership with McIntyre Hall as originally decided in April.

SPAC board members say that after further consideration, pulling out of the agreement would cause legal headaches for all parties involved and wouldn’t benefit the group and its members much at all.

“We realized that it’s going to take a lot more work (changing the management agreement) than we were willing to do,” said Clarence Holden, SPAC board president.

Some SPAC members say they’re relieved to hear that the board has decided to stick with the original agreement.

“I am thrilled SPAC will be honoring the agreement with McIntyre Hall,” said Linda Alvarado, executive director of the Skagit Symphony. “We plan on supporting their support.”

Nonprofit SPAC signed a management partnership agreement with Skagit Valley College, where the hall was built, and the Skagit Regional Public Facilities District. The district, which owns the hall, was formed to collect sales tax money to help pay for it.

The partnership agreement calls for SPAC to hold an annual fundraiser to help cover the hall’s operating budget deficit. In exchange, the agreement gives SPAC members priority, second only to the college, in booking performance dates at the hall.

That priority booking has been a big benefit for SPAC members, Holden said.

SPAC’s earlier decision to pull out of the agreement surprised and caused concern among some SPAC members, who worried that the local arts community would lose its priority booking status. SPAC members are primarily local performing arts organizations.

SPAC formed in the mid-1990s as an umbrella organization for the local performing arts community. The group later stepped up to lead an effort to build a regional performing arts center. It raised and contributed thousands of dollars to the cause.

After the McIntyre family donated $6 million toward the project, SPAC continued to play an important role raising money for McIntyre. As a result, the group joined a partnership to help manage and operate the hall. SPAC membership at the time was high, thanks in large part to the group’s negotiating for priority booking for its members.

But once the hall was built and opened in 2004, SPAC had a tough time raising money at its annual fundraising auction.

Politics within the local performing arts groups and member resentment also may have played a part in fundraising difficulties. Some members felt that SPAC wasn’t attending to their needs or offering enough support to other performance venues in the county enough.

So earlier this year, the board decided it was time for a change. No more fundraising auction — it was taking too much effort for too little return — more services and support for member organizations and drop out of the management partnership with McIntyre.

The college board and McIntyre Hall weren’t necessarily expecting the SPAC board’s proposal to pull out of the original agreement, said Nida Tautvydas, executive director of McIntyre. But McIntyre was eager to help respond to the SPAC board’s concerns at the time, she said.

“We are coming more from a place of being supportive and looking for ways that our good relationships could be maintained,” she said.

But on closer examination of the contract, board members realized the group might still be obligated to raise money for McIntyre even if it pulled out of the management agreement, Holden said.

Besides legal complications, SPAC Board members say the group still has an important role in helping McIntyre raise the $3.1 million needed to expand the hall.

The public facilities district board plans to add a full-service kitchen and storage space, and renovate and enlarge the ticket booth and conference area of the 35,600-square-foot hall. The board plans to use $2.7 million in anticipated bond sales funded from sales tax revenues the district has collected since May 2003 that have exceeded expectations. The remaining balance will come from public facilities district reserves earmarked for the hall.

“Hopefully, we’ll end up with an even better facility that’s going to be a boon to our members and community,” Holden said.

n Beverly Crichfield can be reached at 360-416-2135 or .