Members of the community and local unions spoke at the Common Council meeting to urge the Overture Center to remain open to the City of Madison on Tuesday.
The Common Council referred discussion of the Overture Center staffing and ownership model to their Nov. 9 meeting.
The Overture Center owes $28 million dollars, but will be forgiven by banks if the city takes partial ownership by the end of the year.
Alison Jones Chaim, Wisconsin Book Festival director, said the Overture Center hosted the five day Wisconsin Book Festival and should remain open for the community.
""We brought people together for the kind of energetic, civic discourse that is really essential to a healthy democratic society,"" she said.
Davin Pickell, of AFSCME Local 60 union and IATSE Local 251 union, said the models presented to the Common Council by the Overture Center Ad Hoc committee are misleading.
""[The numbers] trick your brain into thinking it's a budget and trick your brain into thinking it's a balanced budget because they've used a bunch of flawed math to get there.""
Chris Gauthier, business agent of IATSE 251 union, said the success of the Overture Center is important to not only union employees, but to the public. Gauthier said people's speech has been ""twisted"" and ""politics played.""
""I would like to see if we can try to focus a lot of this energy and coming up with a solution … a solution that works,"" he said.
