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Announcement :: UCIMC |
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Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
Current rating: 0 |
by Paul Riismandel
Email: paul (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified!)
Address: 218 W. Main St., Suite 110, Urbana, IL 61801 |
12 May 2003
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Anyone and everyone who wishes to help find a solution and plan for dealing with the recent shut-down of the IMC's back performance space and other code violations at the IMC should attend the next IMC Steering Group meeting, Wed. May 14 at 8:00 PM, at the IMC, 218 W. Main St., downtown Urbana. |
Anyone and everyone who wishes to help find a solution and plan for dealing with the recent shut-down of the IMC’s back performance space and other code violations at the IMC should attend the next IMC Steering Group meeting, Wed. May 14 at 8:00 PM.
Here are more details:
On Sunday night Meghan from the Shows group called an emergency meeting for IMC volunteers to come together and begin planning on how to deal with last Thursday’s shut-down of the IMC’s back room performance space by the City of Urbana for as yet not fully specified building code violations. There were 10 people at this meeting, including Paul R., Ellen K., Mike L., Cyrus, Meghan K., Jane, John M., Molly S., Jeff, and one person whose name I didn’t get.
At this time the full extent of the City’s findings on code violations are unknown, although many of them were discussed at a meeting with the City on Friday, attended by IMC volunteers Sascha, Mike L. and Danielle. According to Mike, the City has promised to give us a report of their findings this Tuesday, May 13. For the time being the back performance space is closed until further notice, but the main IMC space continues to be open.
At Meghan’s suggestion, the group assembled at Sunday’s meeting decided to begin drafting a statement from the IMC to give our side of the story, in part responding to some of the City’s assertions about the performance. Megan and Jane will draft this statement and post it to the IMC main e-mail list (imc (at) ucimc.org). Anyone wishing to see this draft and make suggestions on it should be subscribed to the IMC e-mail list – you can do this at this webpage:
http://lists.cu.groogroo.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc
We decided to ask the Steering Group to review and approve this statement at its next meeting, Wed. at 8 PM.
In discussing the known details about the violations the City says it has found, we agreed that there are two major decisions to be made. First, we must plan to do whatever work is necessary to keep the main portion of the IMC space open – that is, all of the space except the performance space: front room, production room and middle gallery. We should be able to address this question at Wednesday’s Steering Meeting.
Second, we must decide if the IMC wishes to do the necessary work to bring the back performance space up to code. We agreed that this decision cannot be made without knowing exactly what the violations are, what work must be done to fix them, and an estimate of what that work will cost. We will not have much of this information in time for Wednesday’s Steering Group meeting. Therefore it is unlikely that an informed decision about the future of the back performance space can be made at Wednesday’s Steering meeting.
The Steering Group is the body, made up of empowered spokespeople from all IMC working groups, that tackles the issues and decisions that affect the entire IMC. At the moment, anyone and everyone in the IMC community who wishes to help find a solution and plan for how the IMC will deal with this problem should attend the next Steering Group meeting, Wednesday, May 14 at 8:00 PM at the IMC
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Related stories on this site:
Urbana City Council Public Comment
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Comments
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Similar Shut-down In Chicago |
by pm
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
15 May 2003
Modified: 11:36:15 AM |
HOTHOUSE SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO SOLD-OUT PERFORMANCE OF LEGENDARY CUBAN BAND ORQUESTA ARAGON
At 8:45 p.m. tonight, Friday May 9, ten undercover officers of the Chicago Police Department ordered HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo, and its management to cease and desist all operations, claiming the non-profit performing arts venue was operating with improper Public Place of Amusement licenses.
At the time of the citation, HotHouse was transitioning from a 7 p.m. performance to a sold-out 10 p.m. show of the legendary Cuban charanga band Orquesta Aragon. A crowd of ticketholders to the 10 p.m. performance had formed an orderly line outside the venue in anticipation of the concert.
HotHouse management asserts that all licenses for the venue are in good standing and proper order. Management believes that the raid, which will cause untold financial losses to the venerable non-profit cultural center, was politically motivated.
The crowd of ticketholders, many of whom had come from as far away as Nebraska to see the rare performance of the Cuban orchestra, left the premises in an orderly manner. The patrons of HotHouse, along with its management and supporters, are looking to the City of Chicago and its agencies for answers.
A non-profit performing arts center, HotHouse is dedicated to exposing audiences to a wide range of cultural expression, encouraging respect for our ethnic diversity, and promoting a greater understanding of differing traditions and perspectives.
HotHouse, the Center for International Performance and Exhibition 31 E. Balbo Chicago, IL 60605 312-362-9707; 312-362-9708 fax Visit our web site: www.hothouse.net
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by Paul Riismandel
paul (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified) |
Current rating: 5
15 May 2003
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On Wednesday night the Steering Group drafted a statement that just needs some proofreading to be finalized. This statement clearly lays out what has happened and what the IMC's most immediate plans are.
The IMC will be making a few minor repairs to ensure that the front, production and gallery areas of the IMC are up to code and my remain open with an occupancy of up to 49 people.
The Steering Group has yet to tackle what, if anything, will be done about the rear performance space, and if it will ever reopen. As will be clear in the forthcoming statement, several of the necessary repairs regard the entire building. Therefore the IMC, which is simply a tenant of the building, cannot be solely responsible for them.
My personal thanks go out to all the IMC volunteers, members and community supporters who have come forward to lend a hand and pledge support in the last seven days. I am impressed with how responsibly and effectively the IMC has addressed this problem, all while staying true to our principles of openness and consensus-based democracy.
The IMC will continue to grow and be a strong voice for independent communications in Urbana-Champaign, and I am confident that the community will support the IMC's effort to buy a building to permanently house the IMC and all its projects, including a performance space, that comforms completely will all relevant building codes. |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by thorn
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -1
15 May 2003
Modified: 03:03:37 PM |
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This cannot be a coincidence. Somebody somewhere has decided IMC performance spaces are a threat to the status quo. |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -3
15 May 2003
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Dear Thorn,
You not really paranoid unless their really out to get you.
Jack |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by faith
faith (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified) |
Current rating: -1
16 May 2003
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dear jack,
it's "they're" as in "they are" not "their" as in "belonging to them."
love,
faith |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -1
16 May 2003
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Dear Faith,
Sorry about that.
I love you too,
Jack |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by Kellie Gasink
kelliegasink2002 (nospam) lycos.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 3
17 May 2003
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On July 3, cities around the country will sponsor independent public
hearings called by the National Coalition to Repeal the Patriot Act.
I would like the folks in each city to select a liason to work with
me because I will be working through ALL the steps to make these
a successful public hearings with all the cities that choose to hold public hearings.
Also, put together information for a website because I will be giving
"web space" to all the cities that do this and you will be able to put up your website.
Select the largest place in your city, check on the availibility
for Thursday July 3, perhaps at 6:30 p.m. or so.
Check on a meeting place for weekly organizational meetings, perhaps
on Tuesdays to occur prior to the public hearings. This space should be FREE or by donation.
Please give me a call to help make arrangements in your city. You
can email me at the above address, but a phone call would work better. 912.238.4489
Kellie Gasink
http://www.repealnow.com |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by Paul Riismandel
paul (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
19 May 2003
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The most recent statement from the U-C IMC Steering Group and Emergency Team is on-line:
Urbana Indymedia Center Seeks New Building In Response To Performance Space Closure
http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/12044/index.php
Current Situation
On Thursday, May 8, the City of Urbana shut down the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC) performance space for code violations. The IMC deeply regrets this situation and wishes to comply fully with the Urbana Fire Code.
We are pleased to say that after meeting with officials from the City of Urbana, many misunderstandings have been resolved, and city officials are supportive of our efforts to serve the community. We have been assured by the city that the office space; library; radio, video, and print production room; and art gallery areas of the IMC will remain open. Meetings with less than 50 people will continue at the IMC. Our community space is still open during scheduled hours. However our music venue space is now closed.
What Happened
Throughout the community center's existence, the IMC has acted in good faith in regard to fire code compliance and will continue to act in good faith in the future. Problems arose not only from fire code issues, but also from lack of communication from the City of Urbana before, during, and immediately after the most recent inspections. The IMC has consistently been transparent with the City of Urbana about the use of the room as a performance space, and has publicly advertised events for the past year and a half. The performance space, the focus of the recent citations, was inspected eight months ago and the minor issues raised at that time were promptly resolved. All of the major violations that have been cited by the city preexisted the IMC.s use of the space and the majority of the issues preexisted the annual inspection that occurred eight months ago.
After an inspection on May 5, the City gave the IMC twenty-four days to complete six repairs in order to comply with the Urbana Fire Code. The violations were not deemed serious enough by inspectors to warrant closing the performance space to public use. Within 48 hours, IMC members formed a plan of action and began fixing the problems. On Thursday, May 8, officials returned unexpectedly to the IMC and issued an official notice of closure. The IMC was not informed of why this sudden change in requirements had occurred. The closure forced the IMC to cancel several performances that were to occur over Mother's Day weekend.
While the IMC will complete the minor repairs in the meeting space necessary to ensure the safety of the building's occupants, the IMC is a tenant at 218 W. Main. Several major repairs require action from the owner of the building.
The IMC has been a vital part of the downtown Urbana economic ecology. The IMC brings many people each week into downtown Urbana to produce media, view art, meet with other community members, and hear a wide range music. The hundreds of people who visit the IMC each week patronize many other downtown Urbana businesses.
Finding a Permanent Home for the IMC...
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Code Vs Licenses |
by asdfasdf
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -2
20 May 2003
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dear people
there are actual reasons that there are safety codes for buildings. its so people dont die. when alot of people DID die from things like poison plastic fumes and fires starting for no reason, you would be out protesting the corporate greed and government indifference and demanding stricter building guidelines to prevent the needless death in the future.
that is different than a 'license for public performance'. but as the
whole indymedia article is extremely vague, its kind of hard to tell what is going on. but really, please. give me a friggin break. you sound like a company trying to talk about how the EPA is shutting down 'honest business people'. |
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Re: Planning To Deal With The Shut-Down Of The IMC's Performance Space |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -2
24 May 2003
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Dear asdfafsd,
You point out the logical. It is clearly a dangerous place for many people to gather. They, on the other hand, wish to elevate their importance by claiming a conspiracy from the very people they elected.
It is called failing to live up to ones responsibilities. They have made a living off of these excuses. Now lets see them solve the problem. The need to make repairs in order to keep the "I hate America" center open. They claim it is an open forum but let's see them put the guy who wrote "I am proud to be an American" on stage there for a fund raiser.
No these people need to get capitalistic to earn the funds and they have not the first idea. I offered several suggestions which would get it done, yet , they continue to see conspiracy.
Jack |
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