Fwd: Arts at the Armory Needs Your Support [tomorrow, Monday at 6pm]

[fefie.livejournal.com]

[Forwarded from SAC listserv as the preamble gives context]

From    Gregory Jenkins
To    Somerville Arts Council Listserv
Date    Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 3:15 PM
Subject    [somartscouncil] Arts at the Armory Needs Your Support!

Hello. As some of you may know the Arts at the Armory is seeking approval of a permanent beer and wine license. They need support for this. Specifically, they need supporters to attend this hearing.

You may wonder, why does the Armory need the license? Point blank, the non-profit organization, Arts at the Armory, needs multiple revenues streams to defray the costs of operating/leasing the large open drill hall space, the office, and classroom space.In addition, when other non-profit groups wish to use the space to host a fundraisers, typically, they too want to have beer and wine available for their attendees/supporters. With this license, sales will occur only for events that are appropriate. Sales will not occur during "non-event" times.

Please take 20 minutes of your time to attend the hearing this Monday. See the Armory's full message below.


Thanks for your support.

Greg
********************************************

Arts at the Armory Needs Your Support!
Come to our hearing on Monday, April 26 about our permanent beer and wine license

After nearly a year of sponsoring over 80 arts, cultural and community events in Somerville, Arts at the Armory is embarking on a new chapter - to secure our permanent beer and wine license! This is a really exciting development for us and your support is needed to help our application get approved. The public hearing about our application will be held by the Somerville Licensing Commission on Monday, April 26 at 6 PM, at the Somerville Senior Center, 2nd Floor located at the Tufts Administration Building, 167 Holland Avenue.

If you live in Somerville or have either organized or attended one of our many arts, cultural and community events here in the past year, please come and offer a few brief words of support at the hearing. Your physical presence means the most.


Comments

[ron_newman]

If you've ever attended an event at the Armory and enjoyed it, I urge you to come to tomorrow's hearing and support the Armory's request for this license. I'll be there.

[floormaster.livejournal.com]

I will try to get to this but the time is not good for me.

Does anyone know what happened to the idea of the Armory having a full-time cafe? Is it open yet (I have not been there in a few months)? If it is not open yet, is the plan still on (let me know when if it is)? is it related to the liquor license request?

Thanks.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Oh, I had no idea there was might be a cafe. Now that would be excellent.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

The cafe is open for smaller events (smaller that those in the large performance hall). It is not a full-time cafe. The cafe is related to the license application to be considered at the hearing tonight in that it would be covered by the license.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Can someone explain why, if the beer-and-wine license and the full-time cafe were needed as revenue streams to make this viable, the developers agreed to an original set of conditions with the applicable boards and neighbors that did *not* include one?

Because this "OK, we'll agree to it now, then apply to get it changed later" strategy is a little bit grating.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

The original set of conditions stated that the Armory would apply for one-day beer & wine license on as-needed basis for 6-month grace period before applying for a permanent beer & wine license. At 6 months there was no permanent beer & wine license available. Only now, a year after the Armory opened, has a permanent beer & wine license become available.

[ron_newman]

I attended last night's hearing. The Armory got their beer and wine license (donated by Dali restaurant who no longer needed it after getting a full liquor license).

However, the Armory needs to take seriously several noise complaints from close neighbors. It should not be possible to hear music from inside the Armory while inside neighboring houses.