Outdoor Forest TheatreMt. View Av. & Santa Rita St.
ABSTRACT: The content of informational leaflets distributed yesterday to neighborhood residences of the Forest Theatre about the upcoming Forest Theater Foundation’s Neighborhood Meeting regarding their “pre-design” for the Forest Theatre is presented. Additionally, information about the Forest Theater Foundation’s architect Richard McCann and the Forest Theater Foundation is presented.
Yesterday, Monday, October 22, informational leaflets in a City Hall envelope were distributed to neighborhood residences of the Forest Theatre; the leaflet reads, as follows:
The Forest Theater Foundation
A nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the historic Forest Theater (est. 1910), Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
October 2007
NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
Vista Lobos
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
4:45 PM
The Forest Theater Foundation was formed over ten
years ago by members of the community and the three
performing groups in residence at the Forest Theater.
The Foundation has raised community funds to begin the
design for the preservation of the theater.
Architect, Richard McCann, will present “pre-design”
information to the neighbors and your input will be
welcome.
The Foundation cordially invites you to this
Neighborhood Meeting and we look forward to your
questions and support.
Please contact Foundation President, Walt De Faria for
additional information at 831.624.4345
“The ol’gal is approaching 100 years old...”
Tax ID #95-4586008
PO Box 1097
Carmel, CA
93921
831-624-4345
INFORMATION ON RICHARD F. McCANN:
• University of Washington - Bachelor of Music Composition degree (1963) and Bachelor of Architecture degree (1967)
• Established R. F. McCann & Company Architects in Seattle in 1976; later a second office in Hollywood.
• In 1988, relocated Firm to Pasadena
• “Design work doesn’t begin until we are confident we understand the parameters of the task and develop a clear understanding of client priorities.”
(Source: http://www.rfmco.net/pages/rich.html)
• Awarded “Member of the Year Award” in 1981 by the Theatre Historical Society of America for his “continuously demonstrated outstanding leadership, achievement, and contribution to the organization and its purposes, or been instrumental in work on outside projects in keeping with the aims of THSA."
(Source: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~angell/thsa/membawrd.html)
• Architect Richard McCann has restored about 30 historic theaters within the past 25 years, including the 5th Avenue Theater (Seattle), Wilshire Theater (Los Angeles), the historic Fox Theater (Riverside), Alex Theater (Glendale) and Raymond Theater (Pasadena).
• Project List of Theatres & Showcase Theatres
THEATRES
5th Avenue Theatre - Skinner Building, Seattle, WA
African American Unity Center, Multi-purpose Community Center, Los Angeles, CA
Alberta Bair Theatre, Billings, MT
Alex Theatre, Glendale, CA
California Theatre, San Bernardino, CA
Capital Theatre, Yakima, WA
El Portal Actors’ Alley, North Hollywood, CA
Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Pantages Center for the Performing Arts, Tacoma, WA
Pasadena Memorial Park Amphitheatre, Pasadena, CA
Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena, CA
Plaza Theatre, Palm Springs, CA
Renegade Theatre, North Hollywood, CA
Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Olympia, WA
Wells Fargo Pavilion & Sacramento Theatre Company, Sacramento, CA
Wilshire Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
SHOWCASE THEATRES
Deaf West Theatre, North Hollywood, CA
Secret Rose Theatre, North Hollywood, CA
• RFM ARCHITECTS
R.F. McCann & Company Theatre Architects
"Designing for the Performing Arts & Entertainment Industry Since 1976"
110 S. Rosemead Boulevard, Suite Q
Pasadena, CA. 91107
Telephone: (626) 564-8900
Fax: (626) 584-9174
For more information about RFM, email us at: info@rfmco.net
• CALIFORNIA ARCHITECTS BOARD
Licensee Name: MC CANN RICHARD FRANK
License Type: ARCHITECT
License Number: C7671
License Status: CURRENT
Expiration Date: May 31, 2009
Issue Date: September 05, 1973
City: SIERRA MADRE
County: LOS ANGELES
(Source: http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/WLLQRYNA$LCEV2.QueryView?P_LICENSE_NUMBER=7671&P_LTE_ID=1010)
REFERENCES:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20060228-1656-foxtheater.html
http://www.raymondtheatre.com/Articles.htm
For more information about Architect Richard McCann, including FIRM PROFILE, R. F. McCANN, SERVICES, PROJECTS & NEWS, click on Post title above or copy, paste and click http://www.rfmco.net/
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOREST THEATER FOUNDATION:
The Forest Theater Foundation
P.O. Box 1087
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. 93921
• A 501(c)(3) Public Charity
• EIN: 95-4586008
• Ruling Year: 1997.
• Income is less than $25,000 annually, therefore the Foundation is not required to file an annual return with the I.R.S.
7 comments:
The Forest Theater Foundation has had a low profile these past ten years. In fact many Carmel residents have either been unaware of its existence or have barely been aware of the reason it was formed and what it did. Suddenly the Foundation is very much on the radar screen and has evidently been making important decisions out of the public eye at the direction of Mayor McCloud. This is all very reminicent of the events leading up to the unfortunate situation at the Sunset Center. It is also reminiscent of the way McCloud runs the city in general i.e. as untransparently as she can get away with. Is the Foundation going to have expanded responsibility such as the organization that runs Sunset? Are we going to see a repeat of that disaster? Is the upcoming "neighborhood" event going to be another one of those events that have all too often been held by the city so that Mayor McCloud and city council members can claim there was public input only to ignore that input in the end? Is the plan going to be to turn the Forest Theater into the kind of slick venue that the Sunset Center has tried to become? Another venue that won't serve Carmelites but which the city will also pour major funding into giving the basic needs of Carmel even greater short shrift?
Yikes! What the hell has happened to our village? Another disaster in the making courtesy of Mayor Sue. It makes me cringe.
Local government us supposed to be the most accountable and responsive to citizens. But in Carmel-by-the-Sea, the mayor's wrongheaded idea of government is to make it opaque, unaccountable and unresponsive to citizens. Case in Point: The mayor initiated the formation of SCC to manage a city owned public asset, the Sunset Center. SCC's board meetings are closed to the public; SCC provides minimal info at council meetings and operates basically as a closed clique. And SCC has gotten over $2 million in taxpayer monies over 3 years to operate Sunset Center and will probably need more and more monies over time. Now, the mayor has no doubt initiated personal contact with the Forest Theater Foundation and encouraged them to hire an outside consultant architect because she has no use for the Congleton Forest Theater Plan. And maybe the Forest Theater will be the next city owned public asset to be managed not by the city as intended, but by another nonprofit with the same outcome as Sunset Center. It is discouraging not in the least that a career federal government employee would view government as a body to be opaque, secretive, unaccountable and unresponsive to citizens. Citizens should hold their local government responsible for at least managing their public assets in an open, accountable and responsive way. So what is it with the citizens of Carmel-by-the-Sea? What needs to happen for Carmelites to rise up and call for a stop to all the nonsense that is occurring at odds with their interests?
At a time when the Cultural Commission was considering expanding use of the theater by offering minimal spot time to other users, the Forest Theater Guild and Pacific Rep Theater felt threatened. To protect their turf and to keep other users out, they formed the Foundation. They believed the best way to protect what they considered theirs (and not the city's), was to band together, strength in numbers so to speak. This was after they had been fighting like cats and dogs for years. At one point they had to be forced to sign an agreement just to get along. They thwarted any attempts to make it more of a community theater that others could use infrequently.
Greetings. I just found this posting and found much of it very informative. I'm not sure about all the negative comments (it appears much is personal). However I must say I am quite impressed my Mr. McKann's credentials. Design work on the Pasadena Playhouse and the Orpheum - WOW! Thanks to this blog for posting this information. And welcome to Carmel, Mr. McKann!
How nice that the last post complements McKann regarding his credentials. As far as can be ascertained from his firm's profile list, I don't think he has had anything to do with designing outdoor theaters.
How obvious your contempt is for anyone that posts a positive comment. How sad.
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