Building Community Through Art
OUR MISSION
To rehabilitate the Montclair Firehouse into a small venue for visual and performing arts and a community meeting space. When completed, with all City permits issued, this building will have one large open Grand Hall (approximately 25' x 48'), with soaring, cathedral ceiling, six exit doors, and an adjoining room of approximately 520 SF with its own cathedral ceiling. The adjacent room will include handicap lift access, a staircase to the lower apparatus room/garage, two bathrooms & a green room for theatrical productions. A small, raised stage will be installed where the two rooms intersect, projecting out 3-1/2 feet into the Grand Hall.
Contemplated uses for the lower apparatus room/garage include storage for theatrical equipment and risers; possible artists' studio space.
As a society, we evolve through understanding. Our creativity thrives via the bridges that bond artist & audience. Yet the implicit values the arts contribute to our humanity are regularly challenged, dismissed, and relegated to the sidelines. Within our Montclair community are gifted artists, ranging from musicians to painters, actors, sculptors, dancers & authors. We want to resurrect this iconic firehouse structure & grounds into a home for our artistic community, a true community arts center. Opening onto 2 expansive patios, surrounded by sheltering, mature trees, and within walking distance of many residences & the Village's amenities, the firehouse offers endless possibilities as a small-scale venue for art displays, poetry, book readings & lectures, chamber music, dance performances, and theatrical events. Envision garden club demonstrations, senior acting classes, guitar workshops, a cello bash, free musical Fridays, & weekend gallery hours for the rotating artists' exhibits. Whatever the Montclair community wants to bring to share with others is welcome. The venue would also be available, at a nominal charge, for piano recitals, Scout meetings, and other civic events. We seek the interest and support of those in our midst who value community and the arts and who can envision a new identity for this iconic, yet abandoned & neglected, City asset. Our proven track record includes the creation of the Piedmont Center For The Arts, which now regularly hosts over 10,000 visitors a year to its many programs and events.
CREATING A CIVIC/CULTURAL/ARTISTIC SPACE
REHABILITATION GOALS
The MFAC's renovation will focus on creating safe, accessible access to the second level of the building. Our landscaping plans will remove dangerous & dead trees, create planting beds with attractive, easily-maintainable native CA plants. The WPA stone retaining walls & stairs will be rebuilt on two levels to create large outdoor patio spaces for gatherings. A fifty-foot wooden bench will be installed along the lower stone wall for easily accessible patio seating. Outdoor lighting will complement the landscaping with uplit trees, low-voltage lighting on timers for the rear patios, left side, and main staircase. For security, large outdoor motion detector lights and cameras will be used on three sides of the building. At the entry, the rotted portico & beams of the front porch will be replaced with new wood identical in design and detail.
Interior renovations will include recommended seismic retrofitting, new electrical, plumbing, roofing & HVAC systems. New windows & skylights will be installed. The three front-most windows will be covered over as required for retrofitting, but "dummies" will be inserted to maintain the original design. The tall chimney & fireplace will be demolished per the seismic engineer; however, a duplicate, simulated brick chimney will replace the original on the exterior. Inside, two new accessible bathrooms will be installed, along with a small stage & chair storage closet. Three new entry doors, matching the originals, will be installed on the north side; the original exterior door to the Captain's bedroom will be replaced in kind. Two new windows & one set of double French doors will be installed to replace the existing.
Board of Directors
Nancy Lehrkind
John L. Cooper
Eli Liliedahl-Allen
Diva DiMartini
Eric Perko
Margaret Lehrkind