Last week's State of Wilmington 2009 seemed more like a motivational seminar to convince ourselves that we are a World Class city than a budget address.
The event opened with a video retrospective of the last 15 years, then Mayor James Baker and Gov. Jack Markell addressed the 200 mostly business and arts people in attendance.
“States must balance our budgets. We can't print money like Washington,” said Markell. In the midst of the state's economic crisis, he asked for all to work together. And, he had some interesting stats regarding the arts:
* Each $1 state donation to the arts creates $7 in economic activity
* The arts bring $142 million annually to our economy, creating $10 million revenue to the state
Hal Real, founder and president of Philly's World Cafe Live also spoke enthusiastically about Wilmington's Queen Theatre renovation as a World Cafe satellite.
As a native Wilmingtonian, Aisle Say remembers the popcorn machines and the creaky floors of the Dry Goods, motion pictures at The Queen and The Warner, crullers at Federal Bakery and the A & P Market where my mother shopped. My father took me to the ribbon cutting of I-95 and I saw JFK two weeks before the assassination.
Yet for decades, downtown after 5 p.m. has been the urban equivalent of Antarctica.
I asked myself where will the people come from to frequent the revitalized Queen? Real may have suggested the beginning of an answer when he quoted these figures to buttress his case for choosing Wilmington:
* Wilmington is within a 90-minute radius of the nation's greatest population concentration
* World Cafe's radio station, XPN, is the nation's most popular syndicated pop-rock-contemporary show. One would imagine the station will be touting Wilmington heavily.
* World Cafe Live lives off emerging acts -- read: “cheap to book.”
The Philly venue is incredibly profitable and has many community outreach services. Work on the Wilmington extension will begin in 90 days and is estimated to take 20 months to complete.
Other economic tidbits
Christiana Care Vice President of Communications Michelle Schiavone presented an impressive video on the $205 million dollar expansion of Wilmington Hospital. Upon completion, it will be three times the space of the existing hospital, add a new nine-story tower, 13 operating rooms and add 600 new jobs. Completion date is 2012.
Still no concrete word on a hotel to accommodate Chase Center conferees.
A representative from the Riverfront Development Corporation responded to an inquiry regarding an exit from I-95 northbound. It's not going to happen. More likely is an eventual bridge over the Christina River connecting to I-495.
Showing posts with label business and arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business and arts. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
"Save The Queen" in Wilmington Delaware
To say the long-vacant Queen Theatre on Market Street is dilapidated is to hint that mother of octuplets Nadya Suleman may have too many kids. To say it is cavernous is akin to suggesting the Grand Canyon is a mere slice in the earth.
But years ago I wrote an opinion piece entitled “Save The Queen” (the theatre, not Liz ), calling for its revival. Now the Buccini-Pollin Group is doing just that.
No one can accuse Mayor Baker's two best friends – Rob and Chris Buccini – of small-minded Lilliputian thinking. To the contrary, they are the broad-thinking Brobdingnagians of Delaware.
They own most of Market Street. But they realized the cornerstone of their $250 million redevelopment project was a 50,000-square-foot edifice smack in the middle of their properties spanning 10th Street to the Riverfront. The behemoth has sat deteriorating for 49 years.
The model for the renovated Queen is Philadelphia's World Cafe Live, a very, very happenin' live music venue that draws an eclectic array of acts from celebrated artists to emerging ones. It is an investor and will be the operator of the Queen; delivering musical fuel from Philly to energize downtown Wilmington faster than the Alaska pipeline.
Entertainment draws traffic, and eventually the three Big R's: renters, retailers and restaurants.
With its promise of solid economic and cultural development, its no surprise that the City of Wilmington has backed it with $1 million and already grants have been committed from The Longwood Foundation and The Welfare Foundation. (Thank you P.S duPont of Longwood Gardens fame).
World Cafe will follow its successful paradigm of a non-profit/for profit partnership. Marshalling the non-profit arm is Wilmington-born Bill Taylor.
Taylor and Chris Buccini are childhood friends that attended Wilmington Friends together, boarding school for high school and went on to Princeton together. But more importantly, Taylor ran the legendary Tipitina's Restaurant in “N'awlins.” More than having some of the best music in a city known for its music, Tipitini's had a foundation that helped to rescue the city's tradition after after Hurricane Katrina. Among other things, he created Instruments a Comin', which bought new instruments for every New Orleans school. He plans to replicate that kind of effort here.
The Light Up The Queen Foundation will create educational programming to engage and serve the community, exploring a range of cultures and perspectives. Workshops, master sessions, musical instrument distribution, and an artist co-op space are already planned.
And finally, dear readers, an Aisle Say quick quiz: In the movie “Robin Hood,” who served the King's English with more beauty, elegance and grace? Was it Errol Flynn in the '50s or Kevin Costner in the '90s? No question on that one. (Oh, that Midwestern monotone so did not work!) However in “Field of Dreams,” Costner did utter the mantra that will become the Queen's -- “build it and they will come.”
But years ago I wrote an opinion piece entitled “Save The Queen” (the theatre, not Liz ), calling for its revival. Now the Buccini-Pollin Group is doing just that.
No one can accuse Mayor Baker's two best friends – Rob and Chris Buccini – of small-minded Lilliputian thinking. To the contrary, they are the broad-thinking Brobdingnagians of Delaware.
They own most of Market Street. But they realized the cornerstone of their $250 million redevelopment project was a 50,000-square-foot edifice smack in the middle of their properties spanning 10th Street to the Riverfront. The behemoth has sat deteriorating for 49 years.
The model for the renovated Queen is Philadelphia's World Cafe Live, a very, very happenin' live music venue that draws an eclectic array of acts from celebrated artists to emerging ones. It is an investor and will be the operator of the Queen; delivering musical fuel from Philly to energize downtown Wilmington faster than the Alaska pipeline.
Entertainment draws traffic, and eventually the three Big R's: renters, retailers and restaurants.
With its promise of solid economic and cultural development, its no surprise that the City of Wilmington has backed it with $1 million and already grants have been committed from The Longwood Foundation and The Welfare Foundation. (Thank you P.S duPont of Longwood Gardens fame).
World Cafe will follow its successful paradigm of a non-profit/for profit partnership. Marshalling the non-profit arm is Wilmington-born Bill Taylor.
Taylor and Chris Buccini are childhood friends that attended Wilmington Friends together, boarding school for high school and went on to Princeton together. But more importantly, Taylor ran the legendary Tipitina's Restaurant in “N'awlins.” More than having some of the best music in a city known for its music, Tipitini's had a foundation that helped to rescue the city's tradition after after Hurricane Katrina. Among other things, he created Instruments a Comin', which bought new instruments for every New Orleans school. He plans to replicate that kind of effort here.
The Light Up The Queen Foundation will create educational programming to engage and serve the community, exploring a range of cultures and perspectives. Workshops, master sessions, musical instrument distribution, and an artist co-op space are already planned.
And finally, dear readers, an Aisle Say quick quiz: In the movie “Robin Hood,” who served the King's English with more beauty, elegance and grace? Was it Errol Flynn in the '50s or Kevin Costner in the '90s? No question on that one. (Oh, that Midwestern monotone so did not work!) However in “Field of Dreams,” Costner did utter the mantra that will become the Queen's -- “build it and they will come.”
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Queen Theatre Wilmington Delaware
In 1997 I wrote an opinion piece in the News Journal entitled “Save The Queen” (the theatre, not Liz ). The Buccini-Pollin Group has done just that.
To say The Queen is cavernous is akin to suggesting the Grand Canyon is a mere slice in the earth. To say The Queen is dilapidated is to hint that Nadya Suleman may have too many kids.
No one can accuse Mayor Baker's two best friends – Rob and Chris Buccini – of Lilliputian thinking. To the contrary, they are the Brobdingnagians of Delaware. They own most of Market Street. But they realized that the cornerstone of their $250 million redevelopment project was a 50,000 square foot edifice sitting right in the middle of their properties at 10th & Market to the Riverfront. The behemoth had sat vacant for 49 years.
Entertainment draws traffic...and eventually the three Big R's: renters, retailers and restaurants.
The model for the renovated Queen is Philadelphia's World Cafe Live, a very very happenin' live music venue. World Cafe, a non-profit, draws an eclectic array of acts – blues, rock, folk and world music; from celebrated artists to emerging ones. This theme will be followed in Wilmington.
I attended World Cafe last weekend to see a local Brazilian drum group. They rocked the place. Food and libations are available after a slight cover.
In fact, World Cafe Live is an investor in The Queen and will be the operator; delivering musical fuel from Philly as fluidly as the Iraqi pipeline. (well, ok, that's not a great analogy).
Brought in from New Orleans to marshal the project is Wilmington-born Bill Taylor. Taylor went to school with Chris Buccini but more importantly he ran the legendary Tipitina's Restaurant in “Nawlins”. In addition to having some of the best music in a city known for its music, Tipitini's had a foundation that helped to rescue the city's tradition. Www.tipitinas.com
Says Taylor, “after Katrina we created a fund raiser called “instruments a comin”. The end result was that the Foundation bought new instruments for every New Orleans school.” Other endeavors of the Foundation will be incorporated in the mission of The Queen and Taylor intends to “take the successes in New Orleans and replicate them here.”
$18 million of the $25 million project is raised says Taylor. The Queen's own Foundation, Light Up The Queen” is up and running. The City of Wilmington invested $1 million and grants are committed from The Longwood Foundation and The Welfare Foundation. (Thank you P.S duPont of Longwood Gardens fame).
World Cafe will follow its successful paradigm of a non-profit/for profit partnership. The completed project will include a main performing hall with dining, a second stage for live music in a casual dining venue, banquet/event space on the upper floors and a studio for regional broadcast of WXPN.
The Light Up The Queen Foundation will be responsible for creating educational programming that will engage and serve the community, exploring a range of cultures and perspectives. Workshops, master sessions, distribution of musical instruments, and an artist co-op space are already planned.
To promote the project, Taylor is staging a series of gigs at the Crosby-Hill Building at 605 Market St. Singer Sharon Little appears February 19. The next day, the 20th, Taylor is hosting the “1st Annual Mardi Gras on Market Street.” This is a fund raiser for The Queen. The entertainment includes legendary musicians from New Orleans. Party goers are encouraged to come in costume. Www.LightUpTheQueen.org
To say The Queen is cavernous is akin to suggesting the Grand Canyon is a mere slice in the earth. To say The Queen is dilapidated is to hint that Nadya Suleman may have too many kids.
No one can accuse Mayor Baker's two best friends – Rob and Chris Buccini – of Lilliputian thinking. To the contrary, they are the Brobdingnagians of Delaware. They own most of Market Street. But they realized that the cornerstone of their $250 million redevelopment project was a 50,000 square foot edifice sitting right in the middle of their properties at 10th & Market to the Riverfront. The behemoth had sat vacant for 49 years.
Entertainment draws traffic...and eventually the three Big R's: renters, retailers and restaurants.
The model for the renovated Queen is Philadelphia's World Cafe Live, a very very happenin' live music venue. World Cafe, a non-profit, draws an eclectic array of acts – blues, rock, folk and world music; from celebrated artists to emerging ones. This theme will be followed in Wilmington.
I attended World Cafe last weekend to see a local Brazilian drum group. They rocked the place. Food and libations are available after a slight cover.
In fact, World Cafe Live is an investor in The Queen and will be the operator; delivering musical fuel from Philly as fluidly as the Iraqi pipeline. (well, ok, that's not a great analogy).
Brought in from New Orleans to marshal the project is Wilmington-born Bill Taylor. Taylor went to school with Chris Buccini but more importantly he ran the legendary Tipitina's Restaurant in “Nawlins”. In addition to having some of the best music in a city known for its music, Tipitini's had a foundation that helped to rescue the city's tradition. Www.tipitinas.com
Says Taylor, “after Katrina we created a fund raiser called “instruments a comin”. The end result was that the Foundation bought new instruments for every New Orleans school.” Other endeavors of the Foundation will be incorporated in the mission of The Queen and Taylor intends to “take the successes in New Orleans and replicate them here.”
$18 million of the $25 million project is raised says Taylor. The Queen's own Foundation, Light Up The Queen” is up and running. The City of Wilmington invested $1 million and grants are committed from The Longwood Foundation and The Welfare Foundation. (Thank you P.S duPont of Longwood Gardens fame).
World Cafe will follow its successful paradigm of a non-profit/for profit partnership. The completed project will include a main performing hall with dining, a second stage for live music in a casual dining venue, banquet/event space on the upper floors and a studio for regional broadcast of WXPN.
The Light Up The Queen Foundation will be responsible for creating educational programming that will engage and serve the community, exploring a range of cultures and perspectives. Workshops, master sessions, distribution of musical instruments, and an artist co-op space are already planned.
To promote the project, Taylor is staging a series of gigs at the Crosby-Hill Building at 605 Market St. Singer Sharon Little appears February 19. The next day, the 20th, Taylor is hosting the “1st Annual Mardi Gras on Market Street.” This is a fund raiser for The Queen. The entertainment includes legendary musicians from New Orleans. Party goers are encouraged to come in costume. Www.LightUpTheQueen.org
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Community News - Arts and Business thrive together
The arts of the community – our community – is at the very core of our social structure. Vibrancy and diversity in the arts cannot be disassociated from economic stability and growth.
A lot is at stake, and we've lost our edge.
Decades ago, DuPont would simply put up a “help wanted” sign and people would flock to our community. Fifteen years ago, credit card banks hoisted that same banner to a similar effect. DuPont and later MBNA particularly poured both lucre and intellectual talent in the form of board members into community and statewide arts organizations, effectively becoming patriarchs of the local arts.
The DuPont Company has subsidized The DuPont Theatre since its premiere in 1913. Sans Charlie Cawley, there would be a vacant space next to The Grand where now the baby grand resides. MBNA poured nearly a million dollars into the (now defunct) Russian Ballet Theatre in the late '90's. That beneficence had a ripple effect with other statewide corporations to get on the bandwagon. The ballet dancers who were stranded in the U.S. after the fall of the Berlin Wall had terrible dental hygiene. RBT Producer Marsha Borin called on her local dentist friends, and they donated a total of 39 root canals! Those were the salad days.
It's no longer a banquet. Today, we are facing challenges attracting new business to Delaware and getting them to invest in the arts.
Part of the due diligence of any corporation in the process of relocating is an evaluation of a location’s cultural fitness. A dynamic cultural atmosphere begets creativity in all professions and transcends income levels. Big companies often establish facilities in “world class environments” where the creative talent exists.
I am a native Delawarean who has been active in the arts for five decades. I have witnessed the dissolution. We are in danger of losing our most crucial economic advantage – being a talent magnet and attracting economic drivers here. Our community must grow its creative class.
Due to our corporate wealth and the “two degrees of separation” we enjoy, New Castle County could become “world class” like Austin, Texas, for example. Every night, the streets are alive in that city. Leaders and citizens alike embrace creativity there, which then becomes self-fulfilling. We need this concerted effort in our community.
One may not live in the city, but it remains the hub to our becoming “world class.” Wilmington Mayor James Baker talks the talk, but Wilmington after 5 p.m. remains the urban equivalent of Death Valley. There are no buildings for sale on Market Street from 10th to the Riverfront, bought up by the visionary Buccini Pollin Group and Preservation Initiatives. On the surface, that sounds good. The bad news is there are few retailers renting these storefronts and few people living upstairs. Our promised “Renaissance” has taken longer than The Middle Ages.
On the arts funding side, only through the recent infusion of a commitment of more than $3 million spearheaded by philanthropist Tatiana Copeland were the five foremost county arts institutions able to breathe some sigh of short term financial relief. Those happily bequeathed were Opera Delaware, The Grand, Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware Symphony and the Delaware Art Museum.
Convention and visitor bureaus around the state have embarrassingly meager funding engines. And for a state that attempts to sell its peerless arts institutions as tourist destinations, Delaware has ranked a paltry 49th of 50 states in tourism funding for the past 10 years.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to nurture the arts; one individual, one family at a time.
I am not suggesting we all stop what we're doing and write the great American novel or design a building. What I am advancing is the notion to be a pro-active partner in the community by giving support. It is a legacy for our children.
Taking children to arts events is a glorious way to grow the creative class from within.
Following is a very personal example of the cultural axiom, “Ya just never know.” Ten years ago, a singing ensemble in which I played a part had a gig at Hagley Museum. Lacking a babysitter that eve, my 10-year-old son was dragged along. For two hours while the group was performing, he stood transfixed by an entertainer twisting balloons. On the way home, he said, “I can do that.”
We bought him a pump, a study book and a bag of those long skinny balloons. Within six months, Grant was working parties making $50.00 an hour. The hysterical sidebar was that the kids attending the parties were the same age as this entrepreneurial balloon twister.
Fast forward to summer 2008. Grant is in Avignon in study. He and his peers go out in the evenings soaking in the French culture and delighting in the street performers. He e-mails to say, “Send me my balloon stuff. I can make some money.” Four weeks later his Facebook page is ripe with photos. There's my 20-year-old college student holding court in a 500 year old city square. On his head sits a foot high balloon hat as he fashions balloon poodles for the tourists! A bowler hat on the ground brims with euros.
“Ya just don't know” where promoting the arts – and enriching your child - will take both him and you.
A lot is at stake, and we've lost our edge.
Decades ago, DuPont would simply put up a “help wanted” sign and people would flock to our community. Fifteen years ago, credit card banks hoisted that same banner to a similar effect. DuPont and later MBNA particularly poured both lucre and intellectual talent in the form of board members into community and statewide arts organizations, effectively becoming patriarchs of the local arts.
The DuPont Company has subsidized The DuPont Theatre since its premiere in 1913. Sans Charlie Cawley, there would be a vacant space next to The Grand where now the baby grand resides. MBNA poured nearly a million dollars into the (now defunct) Russian Ballet Theatre in the late '90's. That beneficence had a ripple effect with other statewide corporations to get on the bandwagon. The ballet dancers who were stranded in the U.S. after the fall of the Berlin Wall had terrible dental hygiene. RBT Producer Marsha Borin called on her local dentist friends, and they donated a total of 39 root canals! Those were the salad days.
It's no longer a banquet. Today, we are facing challenges attracting new business to Delaware and getting them to invest in the arts.
Part of the due diligence of any corporation in the process of relocating is an evaluation of a location’s cultural fitness. A dynamic cultural atmosphere begets creativity in all professions and transcends income levels. Big companies often establish facilities in “world class environments” where the creative talent exists.
I am a native Delawarean who has been active in the arts for five decades. I have witnessed the dissolution. We are in danger of losing our most crucial economic advantage – being a talent magnet and attracting economic drivers here. Our community must grow its creative class.
Due to our corporate wealth and the “two degrees of separation” we enjoy, New Castle County could become “world class” like Austin, Texas, for example. Every night, the streets are alive in that city. Leaders and citizens alike embrace creativity there, which then becomes self-fulfilling. We need this concerted effort in our community.
One may not live in the city, but it remains the hub to our becoming “world class.” Wilmington Mayor James Baker talks the talk, but Wilmington after 5 p.m. remains the urban equivalent of Death Valley. There are no buildings for sale on Market Street from 10th to the Riverfront, bought up by the visionary Buccini Pollin Group and Preservation Initiatives. On the surface, that sounds good. The bad news is there are few retailers renting these storefronts and few people living upstairs. Our promised “Renaissance” has taken longer than The Middle Ages.
On the arts funding side, only through the recent infusion of a commitment of more than $3 million spearheaded by philanthropist Tatiana Copeland were the five foremost county arts institutions able to breathe some sigh of short term financial relief. Those happily bequeathed were Opera Delaware, The Grand, Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware Symphony and the Delaware Art Museum.
Convention and visitor bureaus around the state have embarrassingly meager funding engines. And for a state that attempts to sell its peerless arts institutions as tourist destinations, Delaware has ranked a paltry 49th of 50 states in tourism funding for the past 10 years.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to nurture the arts; one individual, one family at a time.
I am not suggesting we all stop what we're doing and write the great American novel or design a building. What I am advancing is the notion to be a pro-active partner in the community by giving support. It is a legacy for our children.
Taking children to arts events is a glorious way to grow the creative class from within.
Following is a very personal example of the cultural axiom, “Ya just never know.” Ten years ago, a singing ensemble in which I played a part had a gig at Hagley Museum. Lacking a babysitter that eve, my 10-year-old son was dragged along. For two hours while the group was performing, he stood transfixed by an entertainer twisting balloons. On the way home, he said, “I can do that.”
We bought him a pump, a study book and a bag of those long skinny balloons. Within six months, Grant was working parties making $50.00 an hour. The hysterical sidebar was that the kids attending the parties were the same age as this entrepreneurial balloon twister.
Fast forward to summer 2008. Grant is in Avignon in study. He and his peers go out in the evenings soaking in the French culture and delighting in the street performers. He e-mails to say, “Send me my balloon stuff. I can make some money.” Four weeks later his Facebook page is ripe with photos. There's my 20-year-old college student holding court in a 500 year old city square. On his head sits a foot high balloon hat as he fashions balloon poodles for the tourists! A bowler hat on the ground brims with euros.
“Ya just don't know” where promoting the arts – and enriching your child - will take both him and you.
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