Executive director of Elmira’s Clemens Center to retire at year’s-end

ELMIRA, N.Y. — The Clemens Center, a performing-arts organization in Elmira with an annual budget exceeding $2 million, announced that its executive director, Thomas Weidemann, plans to retire at the end of 2015.

Weidemann, who has led the Clemens Center since 1983, is credited with managing the nonprofit through three significant renovation projects that have boosted the center’s prominence among performing-arts facilities in central and upstate New York, the center said in a news release.

“During the past 32 years, Tom had led our organization with the highest level of energy, optimism and enthusiasm,” Michael J. Wayne, current president of the Clemens Center board of trustees, said. “He is a Champion of the Arts, not just for the Clemens Center but throughout our entire region.”

Weidemann led the Clemens Center through the 1987 construction of Mandeville Hall, and two significant renovation projects — Phase 1, completed in 1999, and Phase 2, finished in 2008. The organization raised more than $26 million to complete Phases 1 & 2, which completely renovated the theatrical facility — inside and out.

 According to Wayne, Weidemann is currently helping to develop a plan that will shape the future of the organization. He noted that Weidemann will remain a resource after he retires.

The Clemens Center board will conduct a national search to find a new executive director, and is working on a plan to publically celebrate Weidemann’s tenure with the center later this year, the news release stated.

The center also announced that Wayne, of Chemung Canal Trust Company, was re-elected as president of the board of trustees. Other officers elected were: Vice President, Betsy Dalrymple, Sayles Evans Law Firm; Secretary, Dr. Fred Farley, Arnot Health; and Treasurer, Judy McIntosh, Mengel, Metzger Barr & Company, LLP. New trustees joining the board are: Laury E. Poland, president of the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association; Meghann Reed, marketing director of the Arnot Mall; and Robert Springs, controller at Eaton Corp. in Horseheads.

The Clemens Center is primarily funded by ticket sales, contributions, and rental and concessions revenue. It features two performance spaces — Mandeville Hall and Powers Theater.