WICHITA, Kansas, July 1, 2008 -- The Old Town Warren Theatre is considered a cornerstone for downtown development, even though it's underperforming.

That's why the city will give Warren a $6 million interest-free loan, which requires the theatre to stay open for 10 years.

"Downtown revitalization brings more businesses, more people to our core area," said Mayor Carl Brewer during the council meeting.

Some citizens though, view it as corporate welfare.

"We, the city of Wichita, can no longer allow corporations to externalize their expenses and business responsibilities to the taxpayers," said Candice Hare, a Wichita political activist. "We cannot allow them to hold the taxpayers for ransom."

Meanwhile, right before the council gave approval to the Warren loan; council members rejected a $6 million offer from a New York company to buy the bankrupt Broadview Hotel on Waco and Douglas. The deal though, would have required the city to give, not loan, the New Yorkers $1.6 million. Council member Jeff Longwell voiced his opposition by saying he didn't think taxpayers would want to spend that much on a hotel that has struggled for decades.

Still, many see the Broadview as a key to attracting more Century II conventions.

So why choose one project over another? For starters, say council members, the Old Town money is a loan to protect the taxpayers' interest.

"It is a public and private partnership, one that will protect taxpayer's dollars that have already been invested in Old Town Square," said the mayor.

More than $9 million worth of taxpayer money has been invested to improve the area surrounding the theatre. Warren’s property tax money is needed to pay that back. Lose the Warren, and the taxpayers are on the hook.

The city meantime, is willing to wait for another developer to take a crack at the Broadview.