Senator Theatre RFP process must involve historic theatre professionals
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From: Your Name <you@example.com>
To: stephanie.rawlingsblake@baltimorecity.gov, councilpresident@baltimorecity.gov,joan.pratt@baltimorecity.gov
Subject: Senator Theatre RFP process must involve historic theatre professionals
Dear Mayor Rawlings-Blake:
The Friends of The Senator Theatre are encouraged that you and your city hall colleagues represent a new generation of municipal leadership, and that you intend as Baltimore's Mayor to usher in an era of administrative openness and integrity. Your ascension to Mayor is indeed an historic opportunity to change the widespread public perception of Baltimore City's embedded culture of corruption. You have raised many hopes and garnered our organization's sincere support in that regard.
Baltimore's Senator Theatre is a beloved city landmark and a unique historic asset to the State of Maryland. The stunning, iconic Senator Theatre is also revered and celebrated nationally as a remarkably intact, irreplaceable structure, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the past 70 years since its inaugural opening in 1939, "Baltimore's Premiere Showplace" has gone on to achieve national renown. The Senator's need for protection and preservation in perpetuity has in recent years, also triggered great concern and thousands of inquiries and donor contributions from across the nation and Europe as well.
As Friends of The Senator, we are writing to alert you to a troubling controversy that is brewing over the Senator RFP selection process taking place under an inappropriate shroud of secrecy and intrigue.
Simply put, the Baltimore Development Corporation's flawed RFP selection process lacks the objective critical expertise and the financial transparency required for such a high-profile Baltimore City redevelopment project that has to date required the controversial investment of over a million dollars in taxpayer funds.
A pivotal concern at this juncture is the repeated refusal by the leadership of the BDC to allow a single qualified historic theatre redevelopment consultant or film exhibition industry expert to contribute their invaluable objective professional expertise and analysis to the Senator RFP selection process. We concur with other local, regional and national historic preservation organizations and individuals that the Baltimore Development Corporation's stance barring the involvement of established historic theatre redevelopment experts in the Senator Theatre RFP process is wholly unacceptable and must be rectified.
Myriad complexities need careful evaluation and management by the experts, including film exhibition dynamics, historic theatre preservation and tax credit issues, evolving entertainment and educational programming, non-profit ownership and operation models, and the synergistic economic and cultural benefits for the surrounding business and residential communities. For The Senator Theatre to achieve this critical transition, as scores of high-profile historic theatres have done nationwide, the RFP award process must take place in an open and collaborative manner under the expert guidance of historic theatre redevelopment professionals.
The industry experts are invaluable in successfully managing the complex transition of outmoded, historic single screen motion picture theatres nationwide into restored and thriving entertainment and educational venues that generate the maximum economic and cultural benefits to all. They bring their vast, hands-on experience to illuminate the various pitfalls, and to ultimately advise you, as Mayor, to ensure that your final decision that will determine The Senator Theatre's future incarnation is optimal and based on the expertise and documented past achievements of established industry professionals.
The repeated BDC refusals to allow qualified industry experts to participate are alarming, and the agency's position has raised many eyebrows and tainted the validity of the city's Senator Theatre RFP selection process. It is the position of the Friends of The Senator that the situation demands your personal attention and guidance. If this does not occur in the very near future, we believe that the emerging controversy will metastasize and cast a lasting, back room shadow over the integrity of the process and the public's perception of your administration's leadership and resolve.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Organization
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
Fax: (123)456-7890x123
p.s.
Your Personal Statement
--
Campaign (<em>1924</em>): <em>Senator Theatre RFP process must involve historic theatre professionals</em>
Learn more about this campaign here: <em>http://www.citizenspeak.org/node/1924</em>
--
This campaign was created with CitizenSpeak. Visit us online at http://citizenspeak.org
To: stephanie.rawlingsblake@baltimorecity.gov, councilpresident@baltimorecity.gov,joan.pratt@baltimorecity.gov
Subject: Senator Theatre RFP process must involve historic theatre professionals
Dear Mayor Rawlings-Blake:
The Friends of The Senator Theatre are encouraged that you and your city hall colleagues represent a new generation of municipal leadership, and that you intend as Baltimore's Mayor to usher in an era of administrative openness and integrity. Your ascension to Mayor is indeed an historic opportunity to change the widespread public perception of Baltimore City's embedded culture of corruption. You have raised many hopes and garnered our organization's sincere support in that regard.
Baltimore's Senator Theatre is a beloved city landmark and a unique historic asset to the State of Maryland. The stunning, iconic Senator Theatre is also revered and celebrated nationally as a remarkably intact, irreplaceable structure, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the past 70 years since its inaugural opening in 1939, "Baltimore's Premiere Showplace" has gone on to achieve national renown. The Senator's need for protection and preservation in perpetuity has in recent years, also triggered great concern and thousands of inquiries and donor contributions from across the nation and Europe as well.
As Friends of The Senator, we are writing to alert you to a troubling controversy that is brewing over the Senator RFP selection process taking place under an inappropriate shroud of secrecy and intrigue.
Simply put, the Baltimore Development Corporation's flawed RFP selection process lacks the objective critical expertise and the financial transparency required for such a high-profile Baltimore City redevelopment project that has to date required the controversial investment of over a million dollars in taxpayer funds.
A pivotal concern at this juncture is the repeated refusal by the leadership of the BDC to allow a single qualified historic theatre redevelopment consultant or film exhibition industry expert to contribute their invaluable objective professional expertise and analysis to the Senator RFP selection process. We concur with other local, regional and national historic preservation organizations and individuals that the Baltimore Development Corporation's stance barring the involvement of established historic theatre redevelopment experts in the Senator Theatre RFP process is wholly unacceptable and must be rectified.
Myriad complexities need careful evaluation and management by the experts, including film exhibition dynamics, historic theatre preservation and tax credit issues, evolving entertainment and educational programming, non-profit ownership and operation models, and the synergistic economic and cultural benefits for the surrounding business and residential communities. For The Senator Theatre to achieve this critical transition, as scores of high-profile historic theatres have done nationwide, the RFP award process must take place in an open and collaborative manner under the expert guidance of historic theatre redevelopment professionals.
The industry experts are invaluable in successfully managing the complex transition of outmoded, historic single screen motion picture theatres nationwide into restored and thriving entertainment and educational venues that generate the maximum economic and cultural benefits to all. They bring their vast, hands-on experience to illuminate the various pitfalls, and to ultimately advise you, as Mayor, to ensure that your final decision that will determine The Senator Theatre's future incarnation is optimal and based on the expertise and documented past achievements of established industry professionals.
The repeated BDC refusals to allow qualified industry experts to participate are alarming, and the agency's position has raised many eyebrows and tainted the validity of the city's Senator Theatre RFP selection process. It is the position of the Friends of The Senator that the situation demands your personal attention and guidance. If this does not occur in the very near future, we believe that the emerging controversy will metastasize and cast a lasting, back room shadow over the integrity of the process and the public's perception of your administration's leadership and resolve.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Organization
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
Fax: (123)456-7890x123
p.s.
Your Personal Statement
--
Campaign (<em>1924</em>): <em>Senator Theatre RFP process must involve historic theatre professionals</em>
Learn more about this campaign here: <em>http://www.citizenspeak.org/node/1924</em>
--
This campaign was created with CitizenSpeak. Visit us online at http://citizenspeak.org
