Jan. 20, 2012
Saving the Premier Cinema: second meeting
Date and place:
Saturday January 21 2012, 1 p.m.
Manhattan's Bar & Grill
23 Russell Street, Smiths Falls
Agenda
This agenda will be circulated before the meeting to people who attended the last meeting (last Saturday), on several Smiths Falls Facebook pages, and to municipal counsellors. If you know somebody else who maybe should attend, or who is interested in this effort, feel free to forward this agenda to them.
Items we want to discuss in only a few hours
1 Assume it is not too late to save the building.
1A Timeline: when is the building going to change hands from owner to buyer? If the building is sold, what is the earliest date it would be at risk for destruction?
1B Prospects: If Town Council chooses, it can re-visit the question of giving the building a heritage status. If it receives heritage status, will this prevent it from being demolished? Will it buy some time for a realistic plan to be organized? Is it too late to form a delegation to urge Council to do this? We only have to convince four counsellors.
1C What are the options about forming an organization to buy, repair and operate the building? Can a non-profit corporation be formed to do this? Can Town Hall kick in any leveraged funding to support this? Note the seasonal Murphy Building project worth $500,000.
1D Who do we know that has experience with forming non-profit corporations relevant to this case? Who do we know that can help guide creation of a business plan and marketing the plan to funders? Who can put some weight behind the idea that saving the building would add to surrounding property values and growth prospects?
1E What matching grants are available that reduce renovation costs? Note Murphy Building Green Roof grants and (via Jan) Ontario building envelope grants that include doors.
1F Reaching out: What existing local groups should we involve in this madcap scheme? Local service clubs, local gamers, high school students, live performers, generous benefactors both individual and corporate? Together Smiths Falls association?
1G Can local merchants afford not to endorse saving the cinema?
1H Look at the role models of saving the Station Theatre, Train Museum, Heritage House and Canal Museum sites. Any others that apply?
1I What kind of other uses can this building also support, so it can still show movies but also bring new attendance and new revenue-generating activities? What are the physical space limitations that rule out certain activities?
1J How can we alert the public about this and get their support? What about local radio stations and Cogeco community affairs?
2 Assume it is too late to save the building.
2A Depending on how things go, we might decide to postpone this meeting topic.
2B Where else in downtown Smiths Falls can a cinema (or a cinema/new media centre) operate? Is there a building in its present form that will work? What about a building that can be modified? Remember the old cinema in the wedge building now containing Sport X?
2C Why would doing this be worthwhile? Overall, should movie-going really be abandoned in our community? How can we harness the local public good will about this?
2D Ironic question: what about a climate-controlled big tent on the new parking lot site?
3 Next meeting
3A Should we have a third meeting?
3B When and where?
This draft agenda was written by David Hoffman
Playing hooky from work big time today
40 Lombard Street, Smiths Falls
davidhoffman@magma.ca
phone 613 283 7635