While nearly all of the Vineyard’s performance venues have reopened to the public, the Katharine Cornell Theatre atop Tisbury Town Hall on Spring street remains the daily work space of two finance office workers who were relocated in 2020 to allow for Covid-19 distancing downstairs.

The bequest from Ms. Cornell’s estate that paid to renovate the hall, and commission its soaring Stan Murphy murals, does not preclude using it as office space, town administrator Jay Grande said, but the town’s intention is to preserve it as an auditorium.

“I respect the tradition of using it as a theatre,” Mr. Grande said. “There’s not going to be any permanent office space established.”

But space issues remain, Mr. Grande said, and at present there isn’t enough room on the main floor of the converted 1844 church to fit all town employees, even now that distancing is no longer required.

“We have less than 2,700 square feet of usable space,” he said, adding that his own, unheated office is nowhere near the workspaces of his assistant, Elena DeFoe and human resources coordinator Pam Bennett.

“I don’t even have my two key people in proximity,” Mr. Grande said.

And town hall is getting more crowded as Tisbury grows.

“We need space for an additional employee we are recruiting and hiring,” Mr. Grande said.

To make more room — and consolidate both the finance department and administrative staff — he plans to move the two isolated finance workers currently located on the auditorium level back downstairs and use a smaller portion of the auditorium for his, Ms. DeFoe’s and Ms. Bennett’s workspaces.

The rest of the theatre space — known as Association Hall until the 1970s, when it was renamed in memory of the stage actress and seasonal Tisbury resident Katharine Cornell — would host select board meetings and, if possible, public events as well, Mr. Grande said.

“If we have [a way] to secure our space, then others could use it for small venues or recitals,” he added.

“The center of the theatre and the two front wings where the piano is located and the stage and the elevators will all be accessible,” Mr. Grande said. “It’s less than ideal, but we’re trying to figure out how to get it open.”

Details are still being worked out and some elements could change, he said, but the transition should be completed by March, when the state’s remote meeting option for municipal governments is due to expire.

“We’re going to take it slowly and see how it looks and, frankly, if it doesn’t work, if it’s too intrusive, we’ll regroup and acknowledge,” Mr. Grande said.

Using the auditorium for offices will buy Tisbury some time to properly plan for a renovated or new town hall, Mr. Grande added, although that prospect remains far in the future given the $81 million school project now underway, he said.

“A few years to do the planning is certainly worthwhile,” he said.

In the meantime, Mr. Grande said, he’s issued strict instructions for the theatre’s interim use.

“I made it quite clear that nothing permanent should be affixed to the floor or the ceiling or anywhere... I want to make sure the murals can be viewed [by the public] to the maximum extent possible,” he said.

“The goal is not to occupy the space in perpetuity.”