THANK YOU!
It was impressive, heartwarming and exciting to see such a big turnout for the public forum on Tuesday night. Your support and encouragement are so important. Thank you!
This email was prepared by the new group (see below) working on plans to keep The Bay Theater open and thriving. We are trying to move very quickly given the theater’s closing date of end-December. We promise to do our best to keep everyone informed as much as possible. Comments are welcome!
A QUICK RECAP
The public meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 11th provided a historical perspective as well as the current reality facing The Bay Theater. The Bahle Family does not have the energy to continue managing the theater and the many, ongoing daily tasks required. Bob and Erik Bahle expressed strong interest in finding a way for the theater to become a community-run facility. Or as they said, at the Theatre “For the People, By the People”.
The standing-room-only crowd showed strong support for the theater and shared ideas and perspectives.
THE OUTPUT
At the end of the meeting, all people interested in actively working on the Bay Theater project were asked to stay in the theater to define next steps.
SUMMARY
Here is a summary of the output:
- An advisory group was established. This group is made up of the individuals who are committed to actively working on the Bay Theater project.
- Rick Andrews was nominated and agreed to lead the efforts to build a team, analyze the issues and alternatives, and establish a plan to relaunch The Bay as a community-based theater.
- Rick set a working meeting of the advisory group for the week of Dec 17th.
- Rick will also begin reviewing all the names submitted to the Bay website to fill positions on the leadership team, committees, etc.
IN THE PRESS
Some of the information being published in the press has maybe misleading, due in large part to the evolving plans. We are sorry about this, but are grateful for such support and positive community response.
SINCE THE MEETING LAST WEEK
We are taking in all the comments, encouragement and suggestions from the Tuesday meeting and moving forward quickly. We recently met with the Bahles to review financial details of the theater and understand more of the theater’s operation. Rick Andrews, team leader, developed an initial work plan with 3 priorities: 1) Build a team; 2) Understand the finances and establish a working financial/legal structure plan; 3) Build an action plan to address financial, legal, and operational issues to move management from the Bahle family to a new organization.