COLUMBIA CITY - Last spring, Southeast Effective Development (SEED) hired a contractor to take a critical, honest look at the stalwart South End arts organizations, two premier artistic display and performance spaces in the Historic Landmark District of downtown Columbia City. His appraisal discovered that both places - The Rainier Valley Cultural Center (RVCC) and the Columbia City Gallery (CCG) - was in significant need of crucial repairs.
Back in 1995, SEED purchased the RVCC - an imposing building housing a sublime, turn-of-the-century theater bordering the northeastern edge of Columbia City Park - from the Christian Scientist Church. Two years later, SEED mounted a rehabilitation of the historic building. However, not all the structural problems were addressed.
Today, the roof needs replacing as do the rotting, original wooden gutters and downspouts. The windows that haven't been temporarily replaced with plastic are out- dated, single pane originals that are about as energy efficient as a 1960s Cadillac hearse. The exterior elevator just off the building's front porch breaks down regularly from weather exposure: a canopy to cover the lift is needed. Also, the center's small, sloped parking lot has a mild sinkhole left when an old heating oil tank was removed. The lot needs to be stabilized, repaved and repainted.
"We did a capital needs assessment and decided that we needed to do something now, or it's going to cost more later on," noted SEED's art director, Jerri Plumridge.
The center's to-do list, according to Plumridge and SEED executive director Earl Richardson, also includes a much needed lobby remodel and exterior reader board. In fact, Richardson places the reader board as the RVCC's number one priority, and the lobby remodel as the number two priority.
Both of these top priorities are designed to increase the center's visibility in the neighborhood and its usefulness and comfort to the artists, patrons and community members who use the theater. The reader board will serve to advertise the theater, which lies hidden at the edge of the park, obscured by the Columbia City Park's giant oaks and undulating lawn. As for the inside, there is currently no secure box office location and no good way of keeping noise and light pollution originating from the lobby in to the seating and stage area when patrons open and close the auditorium doors.
"If we wanted to isolate one item, it seems that the reader board is something the community can get behind," Plumridge said.
Both Plumridge and Richardson said the fundamental problem of the freestanding reader board will be where to locate it so vehicular and pedestrian traffic along South Alaska Street and Rainier Avenue South can easily learn about what is going on at the center, or in the community. Richardson sees the board as advertising various neighborhood events that are not necessarily tied to SEED activities, such as the Columbia City Farmers Market.
While Richardson agrees that the greatest cost will be at the RVCC, he and Plumridge assert that the CCG's needs are just as vital to the neighborhood.
"The more visibility we can bring to the gallery, the better," Plumridge asserted.
Purchased in 2003 from Rainier Office Supply, the CCG was immediately remodeled to accommodate a variety of diverse artists. However, some problems weren't addressed, such as the asbestos-laden siding in the alley and the lack of a storefront awning for advertising and sun protection. The gallery also requires a more stable banister on the upstairs loft as well as an improved side-door exit.
Combined, the cost for the RVCC and CCG capital improvements, according to SEED's appraiser, stands at $334,127.
In the past year-and-a-half, SEED has shown that infrastructure improvement at the RVCC and CCG means money well spent when they faced their air conditioning problem at both spaces. Specifically, the issue was that neither building had AC, and it cost SEED nearly $50,000 to install systems at both venues.
"They were both unbearable to be in [during the summer]," Richardson said. "They were so uncomfortable!"
Last week, Plumridge and Richardson noted that SEED has managed to raise half of the needed funds: the capital campaign effort started in early 2006. However, $75,000 of it is in the form of a challenge grant from the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust. This means that an equal amount of money must be raised before the close of 2008 in order to receive the Murdoch money, and both Plumridge and Richardson are looking to individual members of the South End's residential and business communities to help out.
Specifically, Richardson is hoping to raise at least $30,000 from the community so they can make their fundraising goals, bid out the construction and start the improvements by the end of 2008.
"We're dealing with needing to raise money from individuals, and that's always tough," noted Richardson, who said that seeking money from grant organizations is typically an easier process. "You're competing against everything else people get in the mail. Convincing [potential donors] that they are a part of the community, and we're a part of the community, and we need their help is difficult. Getting them to open their wallets is tough."
To learn more about SEED's mission and activities in our community, visit www.seedseattle.org.
