08/28/2006 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council August 28, 2006 Page 2 In the absence of Mayor Rinker, Mr. Buckholtz administered the oath. of office to Mr. DiFranco and Mr. Blood. PRESENTATION BY ANGELA MAZZI FROM WESTLAKE, REED, LESKOSKY REGARDING CIVIC CENTER RENOVATIONS Mr. Buckholtz introduced Angela Mazzi from Westlake, Reed, Leskosky. Angela thanked everyone for having them here. They are very excited about presenting this project. This is a great opportunity to go from ecclesiastical to theatrical architecture. With Angela tonight is Paul Zemoborsky, an Associate Principal who specializes in theatrical work as well as Raymond Kent, one of their theater technical experts on staff. They will be jumping in throughout the presentation to offer comments as well. Passed out before the meeting is the feasibility report which basically is their firm's assessment of the existing conditions, recommendation for intervention based on the goals that the Village has expressed as well as identification of strategies for achieving those goals and costs attached to them. Her presentation is highlighting the salient points out of this presentation. The report documents the justification of why they are doing what they are doing and how they think that it will benefit the Village. Mr. Buckholtz suggested that people in the audience move their chairs so that they can see the presentation better. Angela stated that the existing space under consideration is the old church building and basement area as well as some limited space identified at the basement level of the second floor. As a church building, this was designed for preaching sermons, having services and not necessarily more the kind of performance level capabilities need for sitelines, light and sound needed for performing arts. Some of the goals, therefore are to renovate this existing auditorium as well as to provide performers space so that it can function as a true performing arts venue and support a variety of uses including drama, dance, speakers as well as possibly ~ some Village hearings. The idea was that this could be used by the Village. It also would be a revenue stream for the Village because you can lease the space out to speakers or theatrical groups who are interested in using it. By providing a nice state of the art true theatrical venue, you can really attract a lot of users to the space. Some of the challenges with the existing space is that there is limited space for performer support and theater technical equipment. They had to be very creative in how they crammed it all in and got the bare necessities to work. There also were some access and circulation issues they tried to address as well as the need to comply with accessibility and other codes to make sure that the building meets standards for a theatrical venue. They also wanted to add support functions such as a ticket booth and a manager's office, public toilet rooms in the front of the house, improve access into the theater, seating and sitelines in the auditorium.