Kimmel Center winds up in black

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts announced Friday that it has ended the fiscal year with an operating surplus, a first for the Philadelphia facility since its opening five years ago.

The center, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, said that it ended the 2006 fiscal year Friday with an operating surplus of $1.2 million. It had ended the 2005 fiscal year with an operating deficit of $2.4 million.

Creating a financial stability in its day-to-day operations is the first step in reaching the center’s other goals: further growing its endowment and paying down its $27-million construction debt.