With tongue in cheek, the gift shop at Albany International Airport used to sell a T-shirt honoring three great cities and their iconic images: Paris, depicted by the Eiffel Tower; Rome, featuring the Coliseum, and Albany, starring — what else? — The Egg.

Was The Egg's odd shape really inspired, as local legend holds, by an overturned grapefruit half on Nelson Rockefeller's breakfast tray? Apocryphal, probably. But beyond that, and aside from its role as a symbol of Albany, let's agree that the mission of the Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center, as defined by the legislation creating it, is vital: to present "unique and extraordinary artists" from New York state and around the world in the heart of the state's capital city.

Now that mission is imperiled, according to a new state report, because of financial difficulties. In that, The Egg differs not at all from most arts organizations and venues in this post-Great Recession era. What's unusual is the state's proposed solution: turn The Egg over entirely to state control.

It might be operated much the same way as, say, the convention center beneath the plaza, which is run by the state Office of General Services, or the county-owned Times Union Center, which is operated under a contract by a private vendor, SMG. Those are ideas offered, anyway, by the state Authorities Budget Office, which spent a few months checking The Egg's operations.

To either idea, let me suggest this: Not so fast. Before we ask state workers to take over The Egg, we ought to weigh whether that might create more problems than it would solve, and whether the state might already bear some blame for The Egg's perceived failings.

Of course, it's an unusual facility from the get-go: two theaters, of 980 and 440 seats, situated across from the state Capitol, where nobody otherwise congregates except to work, with parking underground and no restaurants nearby. Acoustics: Troubled, unless amplified. Finances: Troubled, unless subsidized.

Consider how much less financially shaky The Egg might be if the state hadn't cut its financial support from $540,000 to $245,000 two years ago, and then to $220,000 last year. You could argue that The Egg shouldn't get any government subsidy, but then I would ask you to apply the same standard to the $200 million in taxpayer subsidies for Yankee Stadium, home to the richest team in baseball, and the $100 million that the state added to top off Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Right now The Egg is run by a not-for-profit board, which means it is free to seek financial support from foundation grants and donors. The board hasn't done a great job of the latter; it raised only about $100,000 in gifts last year. But some responsibility for that rests with the governor and legislative leaders, who by law appoint the board members.

In most not-for-profit groups, a commitment to fund-raising is an understood condition of taking a board seat; at The Egg, it's more seen as an honor a politician can bestow without obligation.

In fact, some board members haven't shown up for years. Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't filled the board chair position since it became vacant two years ago.

If the state took over The Egg, it wouldn't be eligible for grants. And how many people would want to contribute to its operations? Most of us think we already shell out quite enough dollars to the State of New York, thank you.

Nor should we be comfortable with the notion of our state's political leaders having more direct responsibility for artistic decision-making. It's not that The Egg typically programs acts that shock the sensibilities, but artistic achievement often challenges societal norms. It would be only a matter of time, I suspect, before a stage operated by agents of the governor would come under pressure to shut down an act that offends one segment or another of the voting public. That's a recipe for artistic mediocrity.

In the end, operating a convention center and state office complex, as OGS does, isn't at all the same as operating a theater and concert hall. Nor is running such large venues as the Times Union Center any indication of how a smaller house like The Egg might operate.

Back when Nelson Rockefeller either did or did not look at his grapefruit and imagine a performing arts center, the State of New York saw The Egg, in the words of the legislation chartering it, "to be a visible commitment of the state to pioneering and supporting the maintenance and development of the arts while making programs more accessible to the general public."

Maybe turning it all over to the state to operate is the right choice. I'm dubious. And before the governor and the Legislature make that decision, taxpayers deserve a more thorough look into what they would be getting and what they would be giving up.

Rex Smith is editor of the Times Union. Share your thoughts at http://blogs.timesunion.com/editors