ABSTRACT: At the Special City Council Meeting on May 20, 2008, during City Council deliberations on the Forest Theater Pre-Design by theatre architect Richard F. McCann, City Council Member Karen Sharp voiced concerns about “health and safety.” A COMMENT is made regarding Karen Sharp and her articulated concerns about “health and safety.” And a REFERENCE hyperlink is provided.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Special Meeting
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
VI. Orders of Council
A. Receive conceptual design presentation from the Forest Theater Foundation and provide policy direction
After statements from Community Services Director Christie Miller and Forest Theater Foundation President Walt deFaria, the Forest Theater Pre-Design presentation by Richard F. McCann and public comment, City Council Members deliberated on the Forest Theater Pre-Design. During deliberations, City Council Member Karen Sharp stated, as follows:
“...I think we all are in agreement, one of the things that we’re most concerned about is the health and safety of our actors, our community and so forth and I think the stage, the Children/s Experimental Theatre is imperative, it is imperative that those two areas are really looked at very carefully and for the health and safety also the bathrooms and the ADA compliance...”
COMMENT:
• Given City Council Member Karen Sharp’s concern about “health and safety” issues, it is noteworthy that Karen Sharp, a daughter of a firefighter, has not assumed a leadership role and vocally advocated for the Carmel Professional Firefighters by supporting our Firefighters in their desire to consolidate the Carmel Fire Department with Monterey and Pacific Grove Fire Departments.
REFERENCE:
Archived Video
Special City Council Meeting
May 20, 2008
(Beginning 1:36:22 – 1:37:48 Ending)
8 comments:
The thespians' plan for a $5-6,000,000 renovation is completely inappropriate. For a theater that already has 500+ seats but is rarely a quarter full to want to add more seats is ludicrous. Is the City Council going to fund another white elephant like the Sunset Center while basic things like our city streets continue to deteriorate faster than they are repaired? I hope not.
Of course the theater needs to be updated but it should be done in a fashion appropriate with what the Forest Theater has been historically and what it is intended to be today. If the theater didn't have so much history it would probably have been closed and even torn down long ago. It doesn't serve most people in the community anymore and it hardly attracts any tourists. It serves as a venue for children and adults, who like to appear in community theater but that's about it.
Those people, who have an interest in what should be done with the Forest Theater can attend the meeting that the City Council is holding at the theater on June 19 at 4:30 p.m.
Yes, yes, I agree. Another independent thinker on the city council! With all these independent thinkers, it is funny they are all in unison behind Sue for no full fire department consolidation - not a viable option was their last collective news release. Have they put forth any other options or communicated well with their constituents on this topic? Of course not. Here again in Karen Sharp, her actions belie her sentiments.
No - what is ludicrous is making up your own facts. No one has ever said anything about adding "more seats". Rarely a quarter full?? Please. If that were the case, then why is there a so-called "parking problem"? Statements like these only make this blog and it's contributors look foolish. Yes - everyone should attend the meeting on the 19th and hear the real facts.
Hey, what is foolish is to expect the city to furnish the facts, all the facts and nothing but the facts. Sue McCloud is the queen of misinformation and disinformation. Already, she is spinning the McCann plan into just a slight tinkering of the Congleton plan. Nothing could be further from the truth. The McCann plan is a great departure from the Congleton plan and the historic aesthetic of the Forest Theater. The public deserves honesty on the part of the Foundation and the city. The Foundation and city would acquit themselves better if they were honest and forthright about their real intentions, a 21st century high tech multi-million dollar state of the art amphitheater. Then we could all have an honest discussion about the future of the Forest Theater.
For Carmelites, it would be helpful if PacRep and FTG put together objective data on the number of tickets sold and the number of audience members for each performance for a season over the last 5 years. What is the typical audience? 500, 400, 250 or less? What is the maximum number of vehicles which can park on the Forest Theater parking areas? Even Councilman Ken Talmage recognized perimeter parking amounting to 35 parking spaces does not address the parking problem whether the audience is 100 or 500 people. What are Mr. McCann’s ideas for a comprehensive parking solution?
I think we might be asking a bit much in terms of a complete parking solution. Realistically, we bought houses next to an outdoor theater, so we might look somewhat idiotic suddenly complaining about a parking problem that we all knew was here long before we were. There are parking problems at the Carmel Foundation too, you know. Isn't that just life in Carmel? The best idea I heard was some kind of shuttle bus to and from downtown, which is generally empty at night, anyway.
A complete parking solution will be difficult to achieve, but that doesn't mean the city shouldn't try to solve the problem. Yes, a shuttle is an excellent idea. In 2001, the idea was floated and was determined to be feasible but did come with a cost. I don't know when you bought your house near the theater, but there was a time when more people actually walked to the theater from locations within town than they do now. We get lazy and we love our cars. And, there are probably a lot of tourists and peninsula residents who attend compared to Carmelites who attend (Carmelites are a dying breed, evidenced by empty second homes). So, there has definitely been an increase in the cars parking around the theater over the past few decades at least.
Pac Rep and FTG should come clean with actual attendance numbers. If they did that though, the city might find that they have been short-changed on payments based on a percentage of the house attendance.
Ok, I've heard the plans and the discussion. For anyone to refer to it as "high tech state-of-the-art" is just plain misleading. Actually it seems pretty "low" tech to me. Also, "multi-million" means very little anymore. Heck, my house is multi-million and, quite frankly, it's a shack! (But it's a shack by the sea, so I'm happy)
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