Success!--- after-dinner edit

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

After a somewhat contentious hearing, the Armory received its entertainment license! Score!!!!

The big concern of opponents- ok, maybe not necessarily opponents, but concerned neighbors- was noise.

Debra, the head of the arts organization for the Armory, did a good job of laying out for the Board the process that was undertaken to bring the project to fruition. There were numerous meetings with members of the community/neighbors, consultants, the local Alderman, and the various city agencies.

In the end, there was a list of 41 Conditions drawn up as operating guidelines for the Armory governing hours of operation, (until 10pm for the Armory and a cafe which still sounds like is being planned and must be further licensed by the Board of Health) parking, and noise.

The Board heard opponents first. One woman just wanted to say she was opposed but did not wish to speak. Then, 2 gentlemen spoke. One was a "Mr Sullivan" and I believe his name is John Sullivan. (In an article that popped up on Google, it mentioned Sullivan, a former candidate for the Ward 5, as an opponent of the project who has right from the get-go questioned Joseph's intentions for the project.) Tonight's hearing was no different.

He and the other gentleman (never caught his name- I think his first name was Jimmy) accused Debra and Joseph Sater (co-owner of the Middle East in Cambridge and owner of the Armory) of reneging on an earlier pledge that there would be no bands playing amplified music at the venue. Joseph said that there was never any agreement of the sort. Another neighbor complained about the "loud classical music" coming from the yoga studio in the Armory. One other woman was not happy that concerts might attract as many as 300 people and that after the show, there would be.... well, she didn't exactly say.

In considering their decision, the Board looked over the 41 Conditions and noted that I believe it was 9 of them (it was extremely difficult to hear since--- ha ha ha-- there were no microphones at the hearing and the heating system was ungodly loud.) dealt strictly with noise. Joseph had also pointed out that after earlier concerns were made about noise, he spent $16,000 to install soundproofing (fireproof, for those who are wondering/concerned) to cut down on the noise. Also, Debra pointed out that just this past week, a sound company conducted tests on the noise levels.

All the while I was doodling in my notebook "You darn kids and your rock and roll music!!!"

There was another issue brought up- Mr. Sullivan accused Joseph of running unlicensed events in the space. Apparently, a couple of groups jumped the gun and sent out invites for events long before the space was ready to go. Joseph seemed a tad bit exasperated at that one, holding out his arms and telling the Board that he has too much experience to risk running afoul of the law like that.

The Board listened to supporters and there was some brief back & forth before the vote was taken and the license granted. The Board did advise opponents that if they feel the Armory is stepping outside the agreement or is in some way violating the law- excessive noise, for example, that they can call the police, notify the city, or file an official complaint.

So, it was a victory, but an uneasy one, and the Armory folks are really going to have to be on their toes because they will be watched very closely by their neighbors.

Comments

[fefie.livejournal.com]

It was mentioned last night that the Actor's Shakespeare Project is due to open a set of performances at the Armory in mid-March. That is the only advertised near-term activity at the new performance hall that I've heard about. (http://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/season5/coriolanus.html)