The developer of Richmond's performing-arts center is negotiating with the management of the Richmond Coliseum to handle bookings and operation of the Landmark Theater.

City officials also want to speed borrowing of about $1 million to pay for improvements at the Landmark.

A proposed agreement between the city and the Richmond Performing Arts Center would set the stage for the center to sign a deal with a facilities-management company, possibly Philadelphia-based SMG, for daily operations. The City Council is scheduled to consider the city's agreement with the center Monday.

"My understanding is that they're ready to go with SMG," Council President William J. Pantele said of the performing-arts center yesterday.

Joseph Farrell, chairman of the center's operations committee, said the organization is talking to SMG about managing the Landmark but hasn't reached an agreement. The center isn't bound by city procurement requirements for bidding, he said, but has talked to individuals and organizations about managing the Landmark.

"We may, if negotiations are successful, enter into a contract with SMG. Nothing is finished," he said.

Harry Cann, an SMG senior regional vice president for operations, said in a statement the company is "very excited about the possibility of adding this wonderful, grand theater to our network of theaters."

Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's administration requested the accelerated borrowing and approval of the city's part of the management agreement. Pantele said he sees no reason to delay on either.

"Clearly, [the center is] anxious to get going," he said, adding that the more time a management team has to book events, the better.

Sixth District Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, who chairs the council's finance committee, said she didn't see a problem with the accelerated funding but that she still needed to review the proposed management agreement. She said she was surprised to hear SMG was being considered.

"I got the impression [the center would] be looking for someone with experience" more in keeping with theaters, she said.

City officials have criticized SMG in the past, including in 2002 when city officials learned the cost to run the Coliseum remained the same even after bookings dropped because of what the city's audit department termed inefficiency. SMG officials said at the time that they could not control some of the costs and that they were working to improve marketing. SMG has managed the Coliseum since 1985.

The city's four-year capital-improvements plan set aside about $467,000 in fiscal year 2009 and $3.3 million in 2010 for renovations to the Landmark. The city administration now wants a total of $1 million from the 2010 appropriation accelerated to the upcoming fiscal year and the year after that to fund loading-dock improvements at the theater.

Staff writer Michael Martz contributed to this report.

Contact Kiran Krishnamurthy at (804) 649-6810 or kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com.