Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Englert Pt. . . . Okay I've Lost Count, Too

State 29, Dweeze, Greenman and Matt all respond to Eric Kerchner's letter in the Press-Citizen. David's mailing another Letter to the Editor.



I also think that this bit from Nelle's comments needs to be posted here:

A little skinny on the Community Band Concert.

I have a friend who plays in the band and gave me a little information about how they got into the space.



They were talking to Eric about using the space and he quoted them the going price, which is $800.00. They said no way. We don't have a budget, therefore we cannot pay to perform there. Eric did an imediate back pedal and said they could use the space for the performance for free. The Englert would use the occasion as a fund raiser for themselves. The $5 tickets money went to the Englert, not the Community Band.



The great generosity of Eric went no further than that. The band would have to pay for any rehearsal time used in the space,which means they walked into that space cold. Now, some people would not think that is not much of a problem, but it can be a big one.



The community band had no complaints because they haven't been involved in any of the past history of creating the Englert.


So if that's the case, two out of three of the events that Eric mentions in his letter as examples of "local performances" - Englert Night Out and the Iowa City Community Band concert - were actually fundraisers put on for the Englert itself. The only true rented "event" was the seminar put on by the Chamber of Commerce, which as I noted in this earlier post seems to have sufficient funds to be able to rent Carver-Hawkeye Arena, much less the Englert.



I also think he's opened himself up to a huge collateral attack by putting snide remarks about David into the letter:

David Pierce's letter ("A more perfect Englert show," Jan. 25) strikes me as a bit misinformed, but perhaps this comes from having never attended a performance in the Englert, that I am aware of.


It might not make it into print due to space requirements of the Press-Citizen, but I love David's reply to this little jab:

I find it interesting that Mr. Kerchner chose to say I was misinformed about the Englert. That’s interesting to me because I was part of the group of people working to buy and renovate the Englert before the theatre closed. It’s interesting to me because I was an original member of the Englert Board of Directors and also the first Secretary of the Englert Board of Directors. I venture that I’m in a far better position to speak to the original purpose of our efforts than Mr. Kerchner.



But don’t take my word for it. Here’s the mission statement from the Englert Web site:



The mission of the Englert Civic Theatre, Inc. is to own, maintain and operate the Englert Theatre as a community arts center and performance space, enhancing the vitality of Iowa City's historic downtown by preserving its last historic theater.



The Englert Civic Theatre, Inc. will provide diverse programming, educational opportunities, and exposure to the performing and visual arts. Our focus will be to highlight the talents of local performers, artists, and ensembles.


State 29 feels that the issue is not so much representations made to get the Vision Iowa grant, but representations made in fundraising. I think it's actually both, given that they received money on the strength of the representations.



Stay tuned as the story develops. As before, I'm only posting on past stuff or things in the public domain until I'm convinced negotiations won't pan out and I've spoken with the board.

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