Psych Lit wrote:

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an update on my project.  and i am SO F'in pissed right now i could scream. the former theater has been purchased (that location didnt hurt dammit) and the new owner is wanting to develop it into retail space.  this sets the project back because i now have to find another location grrrrr. damn...*&^%$

Landmark Diner In East Windsor Closes Its Doors

By SHAWN R. BEALS |The Hartford Courant February 16, 2009

EAST WINDSOR - In what at least one official is calling "the end of an era," the East Windsor Restaurant, a 42-year landmark on Route 5, has closed, joining two other prime development properties in town that are on the block.

"It's a shame, a lot of townsfolk were sad to see it go," said Jim Richards, executive director of the chamber of commerce.

"It's the end of an era. The town of East Windsor lost a really good community business."

Owner Nick Tartsinis opened the diner in 1967 as The Windsor Grille. It was expanded and renamed in 1979, according to the diner's website. He declined to comment for this story.

A roadside sign last week still advertised a daily special and job openings.

The property is listed at $1.75 million, Richards said.

The South Main Street lot, with easy access off I-91, is in good shape as a site for a restaurant or retail business, Richards said. "It's a good bargain right now for someone with the right kind of business," he said.

The restaurant was a popular spot for travelers and late-night customers, as well as parties and functions for community groups.

Tartsinis filed one of 28 lawsuits against the town in 2008 that claimed that the assessed values after a revaluation in 2007 were unfair and predicted that the resulting increase in taxes would force some businesses to close.

Two other properties in the same area are awaiting development proposals, but the tough economy is causing most retailers to streamline instead of expand.

The former Showcase Cinemas building that overlooks I-91 was vacated last spring by National Amusements. A Fairfield County developer bought the property and is exploring retail options.

A commercial rezoning of 34 residential acres on nearby Bridge Street was approved in early 2008, and an Avon developer has a sale agreement for the lots pending a commitment from a retailer.

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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I LOVE this kinda stuff! Reminds me of when Janus Theatre was born. Do you know we mounted our first show, with everything -- everything, rehearsal space, tickets, folding chair rental, venue rental, props, set, costumes, advertising (mostly posters,) tickets, programs (printing was one of our biggest expenses, and one of the few things we couldn't scrounge for free -- and there's another thing -- we sold ads in our programs -- you might want to keep that in the back of your head, or use it as a springboard for something else -- would be a great way to engage the locals) royalties for $700?? We made a profit that show (I think something like $3K) and of course that went right back into the theatre -- half our profit always went into operating expenses, and the other half, into our "building fund" into which we dipped only very, very rarely, with full board approval. That's another thing, Psych -- consider setting your goals pretty firmly, and then enlisting people to help by bringing on board a working board of directors to help make it happen.

this is all such good info. thank you! ive been testing people that i know for their reaction. im really good at grant writing and im really good at big pictures. what i am not so good at is following up on the details and day to day stuff mostly because of time issues and so id like to enlist those helpers who are can do people. its interesting to note peoples reactions. ive approached some and theyve been oh thats nice others have responded with are you kidding thats impossible or something along those lines. those are the it cant be done folks and i want to weed those first. i have started a list of those who responded with enthusiasm and a oh good lets get started approach.


I had to laugh -- as I was reading your post last night, I was SOOOO ready to jump in my car and drive out there to help you any way I could.

you have no idea how much i wish that you were close by. with your techie knowledge and vision of what needs doing id be bowing to you daily!

Janus did have the tax exempt status, and we also coasted on a grant from the Arizona Commission on Arts and Humanities for a while, and yeah, that grant proposal writing is a huge pain

grant writing was a major part of my last job at the U. i get the giggles writing them up. i knew that mfa in writing would come in handy someday:)



If you're rural, then there's your (grant) strength, hey? Maybe something here will at least direct you to some useful resource -- it's dated, but perhaps there are follow up links:


Arts and Humanities Programs in Rural America. Rural Information Center Publication Series, No. 74. Revised Edition.

thank you! i will visit this after dinner! i have a few others to go thru too. i also have to investigate what that town might offer in the way of incentives. its very close to a strip mall with a recently opened and closed within 6 months starbucks. if it got off the ground theres an incentive for another restaurant to get started solving the building blight in both locations.  the alternate plan if this falls thru is to look into space in a ct town that is giving a years worth of free rent to anyone who brings the art into the city. there are drawbacks to this mostly because its a very blue collar town and i dont think it has the base to support much beyond what it already has. when ive gone to events in that city they havent been well attended. but still a year of free rent is 1/3 of the way toward getting some of those big ticket grants.


I don't know where you live, but I get the feeling that you may be able to capitalize on that some way. I always like to ... well, "exploit" seems a tainted word, but turn perceived weakness' into strengths. If you're out in the boonies, ride that pony!

lol well i am out in the "boonies" but the space that is my preference is one that i drive by on my ride home every day. its on the ct/ma border and midway between hartford ct and springfield ma which i think is also a draw since its 20 min from either city and right off the highway. thats one of the things that attracted me to it. the town that its located in was once a farm town, mostly tobacco farms. these days its still heavily farmed but has a lot of suburban type development as well. it does have an enterprise zone which is where this vacated theater is located so i am hoping that there might be some town incentives. thats my task for spring break week, to go visit the town hall.

I haven't heard a "hook" yet. Do you have one? What would make your space unique, and therefore a draw? What do you have there people might be willing to travel a bit for? Are you The Inner-Tube Snow-Racing Capital of the World? If not, could you become that?? What is there special about your area which might warrant a "festival?"

well unique is the arts aspect. really this corner of the world is a wasteland when it comes to the arts which is a real surprise when you consider the number of colleges and universities and the income levels. the main problem is that we are smack between boston and new york two big meccas for culture and new englanders are, as a rule, not big consumers of much beyond tractor pulls yanno? but im thinking that if you build it, they will come and soon it will feed their souls and they will wonder how they lived without it so long. lol.  ok, i am being a bit sarcastic but this has been on my mind since i moved back to this area. the near midwest was a bonanza of culture, free concerts in the park, art shows, interesting lectures every damn day, music any time of the day or night and more restaurants, galleries and museums than you could comfortably visit in a year or so in a metro area that is far smaller than these two cities combined and it was thriving.  culture in this area is rehashed shakespeare and dinner at a chain restaurant. anything interesting is always located in the worst parts of these cities and if youre lucky youll come out and your car, if there, wont be stripped:)


Would fiddlers from around the state be willing to have an annual contest/event there?

there used to be the new england fiddle contest each year. it stopped for years but started again a few years back. however the founder, paul lemay, an old friend and an oh how i wish i could talk to him now hero of a guy, died last week.


 Turkey callers? What are your regional strengths? Is there some bird watching that is unique to your space? I know there's a canyon in Tucson, for instance, which has like the largest grouping of different hummingbirds in the world. What are your unique strengths?

uh children of the corn people? lol im kidding but new england is most famous for being new england with all of its quirky, sort of spooky, stoic, ways of life. i suppose its best known for fall foliage. which would be the perfect time to have a festival.

 II mean, if you do get a multi-cultural arts thing off the ground, then why not also use it as a way to enrich the lives of others who might not even be in attendance?

and that is part of the dream here. the space and the chance for artists to have shows or be produced or have their films seen or their lectures heard.

 Thing is? Right now, we've got this "The Secret" thing popular, and heck, any tele-evangilist will tell you that you (people in general) need to throw money at "worthy" charities as hard as you can, in order to be set up to reap the harvest of that which you sow, and that if you donate $500 to a worthy cause, you will see $5000 come back to you in no time at all.

What is YOUR "worthy cause?"


(aside: photographers -- enlist them too -- classes, etc.)
great idea!



Oooo! Oooooo! And a farmer's market outside on the weekends, with maybe an accompanying crafts fair a couple of times a year when the weather was nice. And when it was not nice? Maybe an ice sculpture contest/display, or something, with a side business of perhaps people renting inner tubes or something for the kiddies to use as sleds,

yeah i was thinking about this aspect of it too. id love to bring the outdoors into it as well. in my head the arts and nature are a perfect fit.


With Janus, we always opened our season with a musical -- they're the money makers. That gave us our padding for the balance of the season.

thats a very good idea. my head is spinning now with ideas of setting different things to music tho i suppose the better known are the money draws?



OK, although this might initially seem anathema, how about computer arts? Corporate Sponsors, Psych ... use this terrible economy to capitalize on the "feel good" contribution thing (and of course tax write offs, to any of your sponsors/contributors.)

those are the sources in scarce supply right now. i expect this will open up again by next year but those corporate giants who have supplied the arts for years are under fire right now. witness bank of america taking flak for their generosity last week. so many corporations are hurting right now, unable to secure financing to keep the biz open. im hearing fear in any kind of "unnecessary" spending.


"...In a time when only necessities are affordable, Kerplunk Connecticut recognizes the necessity of Art to the human spirit of people young and old. Come join us and folk singers Pete Seeger and Cheryl Wheeler for a day of Sunshine and Art followed by a concert under the stars on February 10, 2009 at the Kerplunk Multi-Cultural Complex just outside Kerplop, off route 66. A portion of all proceeds will go to the Kerplunk Wildlife Federation. When you think about the cost of eating, it would be tragic if you forgot about feeding your soul ..."

love it!

e, after you sorta get things solidified, you could aim for an opening event with one "name" performer -- guest artist of some sort, willing to help you get this thing off the ground. Hate to sound cynical, but small rural towns are (as you already know) suffering from this economy, too -- if your localites think this may bring business to them, they'll be more apt to get behind it. Can you do corporate sponsors with the tax exempt thing?

im not sure. ive got the tax exempt folder sitting here for reading over the weekend. im assuming yes because most of the arts that do get produced here do have corporate sponsors.
 I've forgotten. No matter how small your town, there have to be ... I dunno, gas stations? Sell it like you're selling tickets to the last space ship leaving Krypton. :) You're right, of course, people are often reluctant to get on board until they see someone else has, so try to find someone who has a reputation/draw.*

id like to open it with several things going on in the course of a weekend. the more people that become familiar the better to id the demographic.

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*DISCLAIMER: Please know that ANYTHING I say on this thread is prefaced with an unvoiced: "Maybe you could consider" -- I just get excited about stuff like this, and the rolling brainstorming ball forgets, sometimes, to say those kinds of things out loud, but please know they're there, and intended.

 im loving your help! keep it coming!


-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 08:46, 2009-02-10

 

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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Psych Lit wrote:

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in is turning a recently closed cineplex into an arts center. its in good shape, on the main drag, vacant, has 12 count them 12 stages,


:::BLINK::: :::BLINK:::

with stadium seating already in place....all going to waste.

a concession area, a great lobby and loads of free parking. the rent however is not in the start up range. ive been contemplating my belly button lint for the last few days trying to think of a way to do this.


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Can you get other "groups" to go in on it with you? Maybe it's too expensive for one, but together, a bunch of you might be able to handle it? Is there a smallish orchestra, which might be looking for a home? A children's theatre? How about local bands, and antique dealers? Is there a kitchen you could lease out to some small company to say .... bake cookies all night, or something (a lot of municipalities have laws about food prepared for sale having to be prepared in a sanctioned kitchen space, rather than one's home -- are there like ... local candy makers, and/or some other regionally specific food specialties? Perhaps if you had five groups, they each could afford to rent the kitchen one night a week, from, say, midnight - 8AM. Do your community theatres have their own venues? Could you lease rooms to ... say, music teachers and acting teachers/coaches? As far as contacting groups, What about the local artist's guild? Is there a humanities council with some sort of a directory? How absolute is the tax exempt status thing? Have you any flexibility with that at all?

 

the tax exempt thing is absolute and my atty friends tell me this process can take some time. march isnt going to happen. the next opportunity is august and i would have to join forces with groups who have been in existance for at least 3 years. yours are all good ideas and ill add them to the thinking this through process. thank yew veddy much and keep any and all ideas coming.
my vision for this is to create a place where people might come for one event and stay for a few others. the concession area is in the middle and im thinking a small cafe that serves dinner on weeknights and lunch and dinner on weekends.  id love it to be a regional resource for many of the things that youve mentioned. documentary events as well as things mentioned in the article like a place to join together for an event like the inauguration. id love to see some innovative theatre done  not just the pc money makers, maybe a new plays festival. id like to see  musical performances, lecture series, readings, art shows and interactive art works, all sorts of things going on. there arent many community theatre groups in the area and even fewer professional theatres. there are quite a few music venues but music can be a draw to get people to experience the other arts.
the big problem right now is that money for the arts has dried up and i dont have a lot of my own to sink into this so i am looking for grant money to get it off the ground. the location is a problem funding wise too. its rather rural but right off the highway. the problem is that its not located in an urban area but instead a small town and im not sure how much help or interest they might be willing to put into this.

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