Jump to content

Off Topic: Aged did you survive the earthquake?


Recommended Posts

  • Members

I'm about 45 miles to the east, felt the rolling but it was pretty smooth. About 50 gal of water sloshed out of the pool. The folks near the epicenter (Napa area) didn't fare so well, there's some damage. I'm supposed to head up there around the third of next month so will see first hand. Mike Pyle is up in that area, haven't seen him check in for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Did I hear correctly that you guys are bowing out at the Crest?

 

Indeed, after 28 years of us operating the facility, the building complex rceived a new owner. We were unable to come to an agreement on just about anything we ever discussed and with his proposed changes to our lease during the renewal process, we determined (through our extensive experience in the industry as well and plain common sense) the very significant additional costs would be overwhelmingly (staggeringly) crippling to our organization going forward. We did not have any of these issues or misunerstandings with the previous ownership group who's families, incidently, had owned the property for almost 100 years. We gave it our best but at some point the risk clearly far outstrips any possibiity of reward.

 

This is a very sad time for all of us. Not just because we have spent most of our adult life in a facility that we had restored ostly ourselves, but because we have about 25 employees that are not just our employees but also our friends (many who have been working there for 10 years and in some cases over 25 years) who are more like family.

 

We don't know what his real plans are for the future of the building. We have always operated the theatre quite successfully as the cultural landmark facility that it is, a stark contrast to other buildings downtown, that have become attractive to the hip new urban club/bar scene. We have a new NBA arena going in 8 blocks to the west, this seems to have raised the expectation of those without an intense understanding of downtown business dynamics to an unrealistic (or euphoricly hopeful) level. We stood by the downtown during it's darkest days, 2 deep recessions and it appears that we will not have an opportunity to participate in it's (hopefully) renaissance.

 

Anybody interested in purchasing a nice PA?

0cea857135f4cc63ad4a6cb2e5bb99d9.jpg.48de28429122c785cc29e93577e3d36a.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Major renovations with plumbing, and air conditioning. Once they hack into it then they have to bring everything up

to modern code? No more grandfathered? Like handicap ramps and updated bathrooms and all that?

Well let them stick the money into it and see if the place is up for sale in a few years cause they lost their butts.

They cant take your memories of a great thing from you guys.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

To clarify, EVERYTHING is fully functional. It was not us who wanted this work done. The building owner has some problem with older technology, and a fascination with new, shiny, pretty things. What we objected to was bearing the cost, even 50% of the cost of a capital improvement project with a depreciable life span of 30+ years over a 5 year lease on something that was not even necessary. We also objected to taking 100% of the risk of replacement for the above items if there were an unforeseen catastrophic failure. We were willing to pay our fair share.

 

Funny thing, when we took over the building 28 years ago, we were told that the boiler and A/C were at the end of their useful lives, HVAC sales guys had been pressuring the original owners to replace, replace, replace (pretty much the same as now) but they would only offer a 5 year warranty on new equipment and 30 years was about as long as they said it would last (20 years without major work). In the 28 years I have been maintaining the existing, now 65 year old system I have never had even 1 day of downtime. The remaining buildings at the complex have <15 year old "modern" equipment and they have had lots and lots of trouble, several have already been replaced. There is no efficiency difference between the old and the proposed new stuff (or none that I have been able to measure) so with the old equipment I got the FULL lifespan of new equipment with none of the hassles. Certainly at some point it will need replacement, but I find that the devil I know well versus the demons I don't know is a pretty easy choice.

 

Everything is almost 100% ADA compliant, we did that work 15 years ago and the ADA seating is double what's needed.

 

It's a very difficult business, almost unbelievably so. There will always those who "know better" in spite of a total lack of experience. An attorney friend said that "everything looks easy until you have to do it yourself". Applies to pro audio too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

We have the same problem in our city of Alexandria, VA. All the cool places that make the city worth living in are slowly going the way of the dinosaur. Also they want to put in large hotels on the waterfront even though no one wants them except the developers. Guess who will win?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

OMG I'm shocked! You did mention something in passing about new owners last time we talked but..........Ouch!

 

Well time passes and change is a sure thing. Hopefully (almost assuredly) you will find something great to continue doing with your life. Let us know what it is please :-). Stay in touch.

 

JR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

So sorry to hear about the split, Andy... and that is one beautiful theater. I look at that pic and see all of the blood, sweat, and tears that surely went into that place. I wish you could pack up the whole crew and come tackle one of our underutilized venues downtown here. Many have tried to breathe new life into it and and a few got close, but were probably just 5 years too early. Now, a well-liked developer that really GETS how to protect and promote historical value has purchased the building and we're curious to see what they'll do with the theater. Quick facts... the Capitol Theater in Davenport played host to the Winter Dance Party Tour in 1959 just days before the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper and has the only Wicks theater organ still in its original home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Unfortunately for us, we were 25 years too early. Lots of big promises by the politicos over the years but zero follow through except for us. Every single time. We have always under promised and over delivered. So much for encouraging civic pride eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Funny thing, when we took over the building 28 years ago, we were told that the boiler and A/C were at the end of their useful lives, HVAC sales guys had been pressuring the original owners to replace, replace, replace (pretty much the same as now) but they would only offer a 5 year warranty on new equipment and 30 years was about as long as they said it would last (20 years without major work). In the 28 years I have been maintaining the existing, now 65 year old system I have never had even 1 day of downtime. The remaining buildings at the complex have <15 year old "modern" equipment and they have had lots and lots of trouble, several have already been replaced. There is no efficiency difference between the old and the proposed new stuff (or none that I have been able to measure) so with the old equipment I got the FULL lifespan of new equipment with none of the hassles. Certainly at some point it will need replacement, but I find that the devil I know well versus the demons I don't know is a pretty easy choice.

Last evening I replaced the power cord on a radio power supply for a neighbor farmer... their new puppy had chewed-up the original power cord. The quote from "the area radio shop" to replace the power cord was $140... or buy a new power supply off their shelf for $165. The radio shop was really pushing the customer to "upgrade" to the new power supply (based on the shop's repair quote it seems apparent to me the shop really didn't want to replace the power cord). It took me 8 minutes to change out the power cord... the replacement cord I used was out of my saved pile of surplus IEEE cables. I also used maybe a penny's worth of solder. It was a super straight-forward job. Even at $100/hr. shop rate and buying a replacement cord, I'd think a repair quote of $20 - $30 would have been more in-line. Admittedly the old power supply is seemingly approx. 8 1/2 years old... and was a bit dusty... but it works FINE (and is built for the ages). I suppose a new power supply might be more efficient... but we're talking somewhere around 150 watts here... and the radio & power supply are only on for 10 - 12 hours a day for 2 - 3 months a year (during spring work and harvest), and at 6 cents a KWH... I seriously doubt the farmer would ever see black ink on the "savings" a new power supply might offer.

 

I dunno... It seems like the new way to "fix stuff" is to huck the old one in a dumpster, grab a new one off the shelf, rip open it's packaging, plug it in... "there... fixed!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Ugh, I just read about this. Sorry to hear for sure.

 

Edit: for some reason the link tool won't directly link to the article, so here is the link to copy and paste:

 

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/26/6654089/anderson-longtime-crest-operators.html

 

Oh, man, from that article:

A project manager for a local engineering firm, Borroum manages multimillion-dollar engineering contracts, Emerick said, so this is within her scope.

 

That combination of inexperience and hubris is not generally what you want to see in venue management.

 

Big thank you Andy and Sid for all your contributions. Everyone I've spoken to is really bummed to hear this news.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks for the thoughts, everybody thinks that running a venue is easy and they can do it better... that's not a new thing. Actually understandin the business and having done it successfully is an entirely different matter, one that separates the men from the boys. The world is full of boys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...