We had lunch at Elaine’s which claims the best hamburgers ever. They have a walk-up window and a sit down dining room. Lunch was good.
George Taraoke met us at the Buddhist Church and let us into all the spaces so we could measure them and assess what it would take for us to live there as well as the possibilities of performing at the Social Hall there.
We could perform in the social hall but it is not ideal. We could perform outside on the church grounds but it is also not ideal.
In all cases we will need to rent a generator for housing. It’s hard to predict what the effectiveness will be of the AC and/or swamp coolers in the indoor spaces.
We’ll need to bring in another refrigerator and possibly and additional freezer.
We’ll need to rent some port-a-potties to supplement the existing limited restrooms (2 stalls, 1 sink in ladies’ room/ 1 stall, 1 urinal, 1 sink in men’s room). There is an outdoor sink that will be much used.
On Saturday, July 16, the Obon Festival is hosted at Buddhist Church of Fowler. This involves use of all or most of the spaces we’d be in for preparation etc on Friday and all day Saturday. I think the event will be an amazing experience for Cornerstone. The sharing of the space as we understand it so far will be challenging.
Geoff, Michael and I checked out other venue options and came up with two priority option ideas: 1. Honda Auto Shop, and 2. City Park.
Honda Auto Shop is a building that has been out of use for 3 years. It’s across the street from City Hall and down the block from The Grange Hall—a run-down space we’ve been seeking access to with no luck so far. It had a long history we’ve heard of from some locals. Owned by the Honda Family for generations it was the perpetual hang out for many older men to sit with coffee and socialize. The City of Fowler purchased the property from the Hondas and has plans to upgrade the building and turn it into a new fire-station. Since the economic downturn however, those plans have been on hold due to lack of funds. If this is our performance venue we save on security costs, and on generator costs, if the power can be turned on to the building. It would require some really serious cleanup both inside and out. It’s possible that we could configure the performance at Honda’s to be split between in and outside- staging and/or audience seating. We might need an additional rehearsal space for part of the time if we perform here.
The city park is really lovely and has a small picturesque elevated stage with a cement pad in front of it. We could use the stage and this pad as a thrust-stage performance area with audience seated on level grass ground around it. The park has movable benches that they use for seating there which we could use, but might also supplement. Support spaces are minimal (to say the least) outside at the park. Additionally we’d have to bring in scaffolding for lights, a generator, and have 24 hour security. We’d need an additional rehearsal space in the area of the park. The Baptist church, the Presbyterian church and the senior center are all nearby.
Both of these venue options require cooperation and coordination with the city.
Geoff, Michael and I stopped in to Dave’s Auto Service to check in briefly with Mayor David Cardenas. He has already spoken with some of his colleagues on the city council about our project. He encouraged us to meet with the city manager to inquire about our requests before the next city council meeting on March 23, in case there are any details for us that discussion or input from the council.
We stopped in to the Fowler Branch Library to say hello to Sara Brown. We learned that while the county owns the library building property, the city owns the parking lot—a venue idea we discussed a bit.
We sat down at Starbucks to talk through all we’d learned. We had told George that we would be available in town from 7 to 8pm in case the church board wanted us to come in and do a presentation or answer questions about our proposal for partnership & housing. But we also didn’t want to wait until 8pm for dinner. So in between ordering dinner at the Italian restaurant on Merced St and dinner being served, George called and asked us to come speak at the beginning of the meeting. Michael and I did. There were about 15-18 people present in the meeting room, they were just getting organized, hadn’t started yet. We were given tea and a plate of snacky things. We introduced ourselves and the project and our proposal. It was a little awkward because I was unclear on what they did or didn’t know already. They asked some questions. A number of folks in the room were people that Julie and I had met and had lunch with at the Food Bazaar last month. It was nice to see friendly and familiar faces. Then we went away thanking George for his advocacy and letting him know we appreciated that he’d done all he could to make it happen.
After Michael and I finished dinner, we headed home to Los Angeles!
Today, George sent an email---
Thank you for staying long enough to make a presentation at the meeting last night. After considerable discussion, A majority voted in favor of the project. However, many concerns came up. Amomg the more serious ones were the living quarters for so many people for a month may be tripping a violation of some City Code.
Karen Mukai volunteered to look into this concern. Another point of concern was that our insurance coverage stipulates that there are no one living on the premise. In the event of any liability that may arise I presume your group will have coverage that will keep the church harmless. At this point, it seems the final approval process will hinge on the clarification of the above concerns.
Perhaps I may be overly concerned, In view of the delicate situation, I wonder if the Story Circle meeting on Tuesday March 15th will be worth your time and effort? I have informed a few people whom I felt may be worthy participants with no exact date in mind. I will alert them, thinking possitively, if you so choose to still retain the date and go ahead as planned..
Always, George
Later Karen Mukai, who works for the city, let me know
“No need to worry about talking to the City Code Enforcement Officer. I already spoke to him and no permits will be required as your group will be staying within the church compound. So, all's well.”
We sent word that our insurance rider would cover any liability their insurance lacked for our residency and that we really want to meet with Buddhist church members for a story circle on Tuesday.
Signs are good for housing, though not quite golden yet, it seems.
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