The endowment normally generates about $400,000 in income each year. This past season, facing a deficit of approximately $899,000, PBT asked donors to the endowment for permission to use an additional $450,000 in restricted funds. The endowment totals about $9.7 million.
"It was a last-resort effort because we like to have an endowment in place," Gleason told the paper. "I don't think we can repeat this next year."
Gleason also told the Tribune-Review that the company still hopes to find money to pay for live music. Earlier this month, PBT announced that it would replace its musicians with recordings next season in order to save approximately $500,000; musicians responded by filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.