Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994 TAG: 9402140315
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It opened 18 months ago with such promise.
The former Dumas Hotel, which once hosted music greats such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, reopened as the renovated Henry Street Music Center and Jazz Institute.
Community leaders hailed the rebirth.
The center would be the centerpiece of Henry Street revitalization, they said. It would be the first step in turning around a once-thriving section of Roanoke from years of neglect, and it would boost the city's musical culture.
That promise is still there.
But the center has been slow to capitalize on its potential, particularly as a music showcase. Since opening in July 1992, there have been few music events. Rather, the center has been used more for occasional meetings by various community groups.
Toni Brandon, program development planner for Total Action Against Poverty, which operates the center, acknowledges that there is a perception in the community that nothing happens at the center. "People say to me, `There's no activity. What's going on? '" she said.
She answers them optimistically. Eventually, she says, more activity will come.
First, however, the center will need more money, according to Greta Evans, chairman of the center's community Advisory Council. "It's alive and well, but we still have a ways to go," she said.
"So many things depend on money."
Indeed, Evans and Brandon said, despite a finished-appearing exterior, the inside of the center needs additional work to make it fully functional as both a jazz venue and an educational facility.
Currently, the center doesn't have enough chairs to seat its capacity audience of 200. The second and third floors each need renovations. Plans call for part of the second floor to be opened up as a balcony, which could almost double the seating capacity for music events. Other sections of the second floor and the third floor would be divided into classrooms and used for educational programs.
Acoustics are another problem. Evans and Brandon said the center needs to purchase sound absorbing materials. It also needs additional sound equipment and stage lighting. The total price tag: $800,000.
Already, about $1 million has been spent on the center, Brandon said. This includes the money spent on the Head Start kitchen, which is located inside the center. Most of this $1 million came from federal, state and local government funding.
But Brandon has little hope that the center will receive similar funding to cover the remaining $800,000. That will have to come mostly through donations and fund-raising, she said. "It is just almost impossible to get public money now."
To raise money and to change the perception that little happens at the center, Evans said the Advisory Council plans to host a series of open jazzfests this year. These would be jam sessions, open to the public and to any local or regional musicians who wanted to join in.
No starting date for the jazz sessions has been set. The council next meets March 9.
Evans said she hopes the jazzfests can be held monthly, or even more frequently if they are well-attended. In Roanoke, Paulo's on Sunday nights is currently the only place that offers live jazz. Los Amigos Cafe downtown ended its Thursday jazz sessions last fall.
However, even the Henry Street center's jazzfests are successful, Evans said they won't generate anywhere close to the $800,000 needed. Bringing in a nationally known jazz artist could raise more significant money, but Evans said that isn't practical given the center's acoustics and seating limitations. It also costs a lot up front to bring in an outside act.
"The name-brand folks mean a whole lot of money," she said.
Brandon said TAP and the Advisory Council are more interested first in hiring a full-time manager for the center, something it has never had. A manager could focus more on fund-raising efforts and lining up regular music performances and educational programs. "That's really what's lacking - a promoter and a business manager," she said.
The cost for a full-time manager would be about $30,000 to $40,0000 annually.
Evans and Brandon are optimistic that once a manager is hired, activity at the center will pick up. They said it hasn't been a bust. In five years, they expect the center will be thriving. "I think with some diligence we can get it going," Evans said.
by CNB