Paul Bass Photo
Chief Ideat BIll Saunders won his quest to stage the festival.
Crank up the amplifiers: It appears that live music and circus performers will be taking the stage in Pitkin Plaza after dark, after all.
That’s the upshot of a turnaround announced late Tuesday afternoon by the management of 360 State St., the new 32-floor downtown residential tower.
The facility has dropped its opposition to allowing Ideat Village, the 10-year-old local grassroots bash formed in response to the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, to stage after-dark shows on Pitkin Plaza.
That means the city will issue a permit to Ideat Village for use of the Orange Street plaza, which borders 360 State, Devil’s Gear Bike Shop, and Bru Cafe.
“The only complaint that we had heard” was from 360 State, said city Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts. “Without any complaints, consistent with our policy, we have no problem going to 10 p.m.”
360 State developer Bruce Becker said Tuesday evening that he met with management during the afternoon and it was agreed to embrace the festival.
In fact, he said, the Elm City Market, the food co-op soon to open on 360 State’s first floor, will even provide refreshments.
“We’re fine with going to 10,” Becker said.
Click here to read a statement Becker issued Tuesday night.
“I’m excited about the festival,” Bruce said. “The dialogue has been a healthy one. It reminds everybody how vibrant” New Haven’s arts community is.
The two-week Ideat Village festival opens Saturday. Click here for the festival schedule.
Ideat Village organizer Bill Saunders said Tuesday evening that he’s “thrilled with the outcome with the permit. However there still are some serious issues with the process that need to be addressed” in the way City Hall handled the permits.
Public Space Debate
The controversy over the festival’s permit provoked outrage from local people concerned that the interest of a developer took precedence over the public interest for a public space — and concerned that the very vibrant art scene that made developments like 360 State possible was being sacrificed.
In response, the city in the past few days offered Ideat Village a compromise: Play in Pitkin Plaza until 8 p.m. Then move a block up to the street until 10 p.m. to Millenium Plaza, behind City Hall and the federal building, where the fest has held events in the past.
Click here to read the city’s policy on permits for events at downtown plazas.
City Deputy Administrative Officer Jennifer Pugh Tuesday called that idea a fair compromise, respecting the needs of 360 State tenants while allowing the festival to proceed. “Millenium is a much bigger space,” Pugh added. “It’s designed for the kind of music they’re taking about. It’s a mini-ampitheater.”
Town Green Special Services District Director Rena Leddy, whose group represents downtown property owners, also called the compromise a “great” idea. “I don’t know why the festival wouldn’t take that on. It’s even more visible. It’s closer to Church Street,” she said.
Ideat Village organizer Saunders, on the other hand, called it an ideat idea. He called Millenium Plaza “masochism world” for nighttime events. He said that even without a permit, the fest will hold its nighttime events on Pitkin Plaza.
Thomas MacMillan File Photo
“The more you move [the] event, the more you isolate it,” Saunders said Tuesday. Millenium Plaza is sealed off from the street, he said. And it’s not set up for people to sit, the way they can along the planters on Pitkin Plaza, he said.
Pitkin is designed for open events with people hanging around. Also, it’s right by local businesses like Bru Cafe and Mediterranea restuarant, which stay open at night and benefit from a festival, Saunders said. “Economic development. Right here.” (Click here to read an argument about the issue on Constitutional grounds by Bru’s co-owner.) here
Tenants at 360 State Tuesday said they actually don’t mind the festival — at least the two who spoke to the Independent before a 360 State manager shoved a reporter out of the building.
“It’s no different than listening to the club rats at 2 in the morning. I close the windows and put on the air conditioning,” said one tenant, a professional dancer who gave the first name of Kelly. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. This place is pretty cool. When you close the windows and turn on the air conditioning, you can block out a lot of noise.”
Tenant Pat O’Leary agreed. O’Leary, an accountant, said he gets up every morning at 4 to get to work by 6. So he hits the sack by 9 p.m. Still, he said the controversy over the festival “surprised” him. “It wouldn’t matter to me,” he said. “It’s actually pretty quiet when you close your windows.”
That worked Monday night, when loud construction took place on Court Street, he said. “I slept through it.”
Becker said he had been out of the loop on the controversy before it exploded in the Independent.
“I got caught off guard by the whole thing,” he said. “The property manager was trying to do her job in looking out for the residents. But this is obviously a bigger issue than that. There will hopefully be more to report on the matter.”
Becker agreed with the festival organizers that outdoor arts events fit in with the area’s appeal for tenants like some of the 350 people who signed leases at 360 State.
“A lot of residents in the building are planning to go to the event,” Becker said. “The reason a lot of our residents moved to New Haven was to be involved in the arts community.”
Jay Dockendorf Photo
Ideats perform at the 2010 fest in Pitkin Plaza.
Ideat Village opens Saturday with a jazz festival from noon to 7 p.m. It won’t be affected either way by the city’s 8 p.m. curfew.
Its next event takes place Wednesday, June 15. That one runs from 7 to 10 p.m. It’s a “fashion challenge” for kids and families to make outfits from garbage bags. It does include some amplification, according to organizer Saunders, but only on the weekends do the events include louder music. The festival includes with events through June 26 — permits or no permits, Saunders vowed.
Click on the play arrow to watch break-dancing in Pitkin Plaza at the 2009 Ideatfest.
great job, saunders.
is there a job posting for a new building manager?? seriously.
Becker is a great guy but this situation, and the town green's and pugh's reaction to it, is absolutely shocking given the have's stated commitment to arts and culture.
where is our city office of culture's statement on this?