Mulligan.

There, I called it. Somebody had to.

The simple fact is that it's long past time for a do-over on Escondido's arts center, long past time to start over and make this beautiful campus the successful operation it ought to be -- and that Escondido's taxpayers deserve to have it be.

The members of the City Council, understandably upset at learning that the center had been running up a tab on a line of credit at a local bank, have a tremendous opportunity to re-invent the arts center. Even the center's most ardent supporters (including your loyal correspondent) realize that the way things have been run over there just haven't worked. We're to the point that the center no longers schedules its own events, instead renting out the two performance halls and other facilities.

So the opportunity now exists to throw out every assumption about how the place should be run, and start anew.

No easy answers here, just a few observations based on a quarter-century of observing (and occasionally participating in) the local music, theater and visual arts scenes:

n The millions the city pours into the arts center aren't a total wash, nor anywhere close. The arts center has helped keep Escondido's downtown corridor alive and bustling. Letting the arts center campus go permanently dark would save some city budget money up front, but would end up being a huge anchor on the downtown area.

n Rename the place already! "The California Center for the Arts, Escondido" is a monstrosity of a title that only a pencil-pushing bureaucrat could love. Hold a contest in the schools, hire a marketing firm to come up with alternatives, use an online random word generator, but do something. Yes, we know it belongs to the citizens of Escondido -- yours truly included. But as an Escondido taxpayer, I want an arts center that is successful and I don't care what the darn thing is called. "Fred's House of Arts" would be an improvement.

n The current setup of hiring the center out on a night by night basis to outside promoters to host their own events is a recipe for failure. There is no continuity in this method, no way to build a loyal base of customers. I'll be the first to admit that the scheduling of the in-house staff has not worked, but this piecemeal approach is going to lead to far too many dark nights at the center. Why not contract with an outside booking agency to run the facility on an ongoing basis?

n Running it as a non-profit hasn't worked. And yet, while the arts center has been floundering, for-profit companies that book arts events are running very successful operations throughout the county. For examples (and inspiration) take a look at the folks who run the Broadway San Diego season at the San Diego Civic Theater or the LiveNation folks who book the large concerts around the area at places like SDSU's Cox Arena. Running a profitable arts enterprise is possible. And if a government agency like San Diego State is legally able to hire a for-profit agency to operate their venues, then so can the city of Escondido.

Contact staff writer Jim Trageser at jtrageser@nctimes.com or (760) 740-5408.