Momentum Gaining to Save the Victoria Theatre
The Haarlem Victoria Restoration Group (HVRG), is sponsoring a petition signing campaign to save the Victoria Theatre located at 233-237 West 125th in Harlem, few doors from the Apollo. Tables will be set in front of the theatre between 3:00 and 7:00 pm on Friday, April 22nd.
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 21, 2005 -- HVRG is bringing to the public’s
attention the fact that some of the responders to the State issued Request For
Proposal (RFP) for the Victoria Theatre site have proposed to eliminate the
theatre. Council members Margarita Lopez and Miguel Martinez have offered their
support to bring the Haarlem Victoria Restoration Group’s efforts to a
successful conclusion. Gloria Chin of Channel 11 will provide media coverage for
the day.
The impetus for the petition is the apparent disregard for the
Harlem community shown by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC). When
ESDC along with the Harlem Community Development Corporation (HCDC) first placed
the RFP for the state-owned Victoria, it was touted as a project for the
community. It has been everything but!
First, a short list of developers
was arbitrarily chosen. Second, the developers that followed the posted RFP were
misled as ESDC ignored the stated terms of their own proposal. Further, the
Empire State Development Corporation did not consult with the Harlem Community
Development Corporation before devising their short list of developers. To top
off this lack of respect for the Harlem community, no member of Community Board
10 was contacted for comments or suggestions, nor was any other elected
officials brought into the loop. The way things stand now, it appears as if a
pre-chosen developer will reap a tremendous profit to the detriment of the
Harlem community.
Thus the vigor behind HVRG’s quest to save the
Victoria theatre continues to gain momentum, evidenced by the numerous offers of
help. Letters of support have come in from the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Vy
Higginson’s, “Mama Foundation for the Arts”, NY City Landmarks Conservancy, a
variety of other arts organizations and Jazz “Hall-of-Famers”. Support, too, has
been garnered from the Council of Baptist Churches as well as other
denominations, i.e., Methodists, Catholics, etc., many community activists
groups, nonprofits organizations and businesses in the area. HVRG has recently
obtained the support of the League of Historic American Theatres. Ms. Kennedy
Smith, Executive Director, worked with the National Trust for 13 years and their
research has proven that land marked theatres bring economic development to
communities.
HVRG, which also had submitted an RFP for the Victoria
Theatre project, but was not one of the final seven, recently appeared on the
Gil Noble show “Like It Is” along with State Assemblyman Wright to publicize the
development of the Victoria Theatre in Harlem!
The
Haarlem Victoria Restoration Group is striving to keep the Victoria theatre as a
theatre in Harlem. Additional information is available on our website www.haarlemvictoria.com; our email address is e-mail protected
from spam bots and our telephone number is (212) 749-7299.
# # #
Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb231258.htm