Tom Kiefaber's letter to CHAP

Former Senator Theatre owner Tom Kiefaber copied me and also several others, including reporters for the local media, on this letter to Baltimore City's Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) before their meeting today. I have asked for and received permission to distribute it.

Dear Ms. Kotarba and Mr. Leon: Please pass on my protest over the manner in which today's CHAP hearing is being conducted to the commissioners. I will also attempt to forward this communication to them individually as well. To proceed on this matter today under these circumstances is improper, as I elaborate below.

Sincerely, Tom Kiefaber

August 9, 2011

Dear Chairperson and CHAP members:

I am writing in my capacity as the former owner of Baltimore's once-beloved and currently degraded Senator Theatre and as an award-winning professional in the field of historic theatre operation and preservation.

It has become apparent through manipulation of the courts by way of a "Peace Order" that Ms. Kathleen Cusack, a key representative of the tenants seeking CHAP concept approval of a fourth new iteration to significantly alter The Senator Theatre, has tactically barred my in-person participation and testimony in today's CHAP commission hearing. My lawyer has advised me not to attend or risk arrest.

Today's CHAP hearing represents the forth major change in the "competitive" RFP plan awarded by the City of Baltimore, and it has become a fundamentally different project from what was approved by the BDC on behalf of the citizen owners of the renowned National Historic Landmark facility. Today's CHAP commission hearing is auspicious in that it represents a significant departure from prior CHAP approvals of three earlier concept plans for significant modification of The Senator Theatre.

From the incomplete set of drawings I was provided by CHAP staff upon request, it appears that the applicants have chosen to take the oft-delayed project in a disappointing direction by converting the remarkably intact historic structure to create a cramped and substandard four-screen film multiplex. This current direction of the controversial project is alarming, considering the ongoing seismic changes in the motion picture exhibition industry that have rendered such modified re-configurations of National Historic Landmark theatres as outmoded, costly folly. The truncated and incomplete schematics I was provided by CHAP staff show a plan that will effectively desecrate an irreplaceable and celebrated historic structure in myriad ways.

In seeking a viable alternative to my in-person testimony regarding this latest modification, which the the surrounding business and residential community has not yet been apprised of, I requested on their behalf a simple set of plans and renderings to review. I was planning, in my former capacity as the long term former independent owner and steward of the Senator Theatre, built by my family in 1939, to be able to submit to the commissioners a clear, well-reasoned written list of informed observations and valid objections to the plans being considered for concept approval at today's CHAP hearing.

Unfortunately, as often occurs surrounding past hurried CHAP meetings regarding The Senator, I was not supplied any complete and up-to-date information, and what I received also contained no second floor plan at all, nor the details of existing exterior openings, cut-throughs, fire exits, materials and elevations required to evaluate the plan.

At 11:15 am today a fuzzy image appeared by email that was useless to me, particularly with a written submission deadline to CHAP, at at noon. The additional material I requested prior to today from CHAP was also requested by me from designer Alex Castro personally. What just arrived from CHAP staff are crude electronic images that are wholly insufficient to comprehend.

In light of the factors listed above, and the highly-charged significance of this oddly convoluted, public/private profit-sharing joint venture project intending to modify one of the most intact and celebrated motion picture theaters of its type remaining in America, I respectfully request that today's CHAP hearing on The Senator be postponed for cause.

Please note as well that today's hearing is inexplicably listed on CHAP's online agenda and in the document I was provided by staff as being submitted by my Senator Limited Partnership, which no longer owns the theatre.

Please postpone and re-scheduled the CHAP hearing to allow the public and myself to actively participate in an open and transparent agency process that is accountable to, and respects the rights of the citizen owners of The Senator Theatre.

Sincerely, Thomas Kiefaber

Letter to Mayor from Karen Noonan, President of Theatre Historical Society of America

Karen Colizzi Noonan, president of the Theatre Historical Society of America, has written a letter to Mayor Rawlings-Blake, joining Friends of The Senator in calling for historic theatre preservation and redevelopment experts to be brought into the Senator RFP selection process. Her letter is quoted below:

Honorable Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Mayor, City of Baltimore
100 N. Holliday Street Room 250
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Dear Mayor Rawlings-Blake:

As President of Theatre Historical Society of America, I write to you today to convey my unconditional support for the careful and considered reuse of the Senator Theatre, one of America’s most recognizable historic theaters.

Further, I implore you as a matter of responsible stewardship, to include an experienced, knowledgeable historic preservation expert with specific expertise in theater preservation, on the BDC panel charged with deciding the Senator’s future.

The BDC has already reached out to the League of Historic American Theaters, located in Baltimore, to supply written input. It is imperative that such an expert physically sits on the commission and has the opportunity to give on-going guidance and consultation as part of the deliberations.

The Senator’s storied façade is revered nationally and internationally as an icon of Art Deco design in general and theater architectural history specifically. The Senator’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places demands that those responsible for its care take every step within their power to protect the integrity, viability and historic nature of the structure.

Your administration has a small window of opportunity to create a safe environment for the Senator’s to flourish in the decades to come. The eyes of the Preservation Community are on Baltimore as this historic decision is made. Please feel free to call on Theatre Historical Society or me for assistance at any time.

Respectfully,

Karen Colizzi Noonan
President, Theatre Historical Society of America

Letter to Mayor Rawlings-Blake

To The Honorable Mayor Rawlings-Blake:

I recently served on the Baltimore Development Corporation’s [BDC] Senator Theatre RFP advisory panel, along with other community leaders, as the sole representative of the Friends of The Senator [FOTS] group. I approached my duties on the RFP panel with optimism, determined to represent the interests and concerns of the FOTS and help identify an optimal future for Baltimore’s beloved Senator Theatre.

The Senator is a revered Baltimore City landmark and a celebrated State of Maryland historic showplace. It is also a renowned historic monument on the National Register of Historic Places and a source of pride among Senator enthusiasts and preservation groups nationwide, as well as a source of concern regarding its uncertain future.

I have invested considerable time and resources to research the complex issues involved with The Senator’s status as an endangered national historic landmark, and its future redevelopment and preservation potential based on successful models across the nation. My research was very encouraging, and I looked forward with enthusiasm and good faith to help produce an informed representative assessment of the two RFPs.

Madam Mayor, I applaud your intention to bring a new level of transparency and integrity to Baltimore City government practices, including the BDC. You have more support than you may imagine in that regard. In that light, I feel it is my responsibility to inform you and the public that based on my in-depth discussions with film exhibition professionals and historic theatre redevelopment experts, the alarming manner in which the BDC is conducting the Senator Theatre RFP selection process is procedurally flawed, and it must be rectified.

The process lacks the expertise and crucial transparency required for a high-profile civic redevelopment project that to date has required the investment of over a million dollars in taxpayer funds. It must become more objective and transparent as soon as possible. The Senator RFPs need objective scrutiny by industry experts to advise the panel and the BDC board, if the results, which they expect you to bless in announcing the new ownership and future direction of the Senator Theatre, are to have any validity. At this point, the RFP process is a shambles.

A key issue is the BDC’s refusal to allow a qualified historic theatre redevelopment consultant and a film exhibition expert to actively assist the citizen panel and the BDC in the professional evaluation of the two RFPs under consideration.

The Senator’s transition to new ownership and operation has many aspects to consider, including mercurial film industry dynamics, historic theatre preservation concerns and tax credit issues, evolution in programming models, deriving maximum economic benefits for the community, and models for non-profit structure and fundraising for historic theatres. It is vitally important to bring on board objective industry experts with successful track records from consulting on and managing similar projects nationwide. The industry experts have the professional experience required in managing the transition of an historic motion picture theatre like The Senator from its outmoded, single-screen first-run business model to a restored, thriving entertainment venue that delivers the maximum economic and cultural benefits to the community in perpetuity.

The Senator’s former owner, Tom Kiefaber, previously brought industry expert John Lind of Venuetech, Inc. from California to Baltimore as a consultant to meet with the extended community, and his knowledge and insights regarding The Senator’s future non-profit incarnation were invaluable. Mr. Lind is an accomplished historic theatre redevelopment professional who has the high level of experience and an impressive portfolio of success that would greatly assist the BDC’s mandate to identify an optimal outcome for the Senator RFP process. The FOTS believe that John Lind is an ideal candidate, although he is certainly not the only option available.

The BDC must reach out to include objective industry experts like Mr. Lind. These experts have developed a set of established procedures over the years, through many successful historic theatre redevelopment projects nationwide, to ensure that the final RFP recommendation submitted to you has been determined in the most credible and informed manner possible. So far, the BDC representatives have simply insisted on keeping the Senator RFP process shrouded in secrecy. In light of your recent reassurances to the citizens of Baltimore that your administration will lift Baltimore’s City Hall above and beyond its widely sullied reputation, I hope you will agree that this odd and provocative stance by the BDC is simply unacceptable, and that it warrants your thoughtful intervention.

Until qualified historic theatre redevelopment professionals are allowed into the mix in earnest, I cannot in good conscience participate further in the BDC’s tainted Senator Theatre RFP evaluation process. After careful consideration of the circumstances, I have resigned from the Senator RFP panel in protest and informed the BDC of my position in writing on behalf of the Friends of the Senator group, who support my actions on their behalf.

Thank you for your kind attention to this matter. I trust that you and your staff will assess the seriousness of this situation and agree with the FOTS group and others regarding the wisdom of encouraging the BDC leadership to open up the process and fulfill their mandate and responsibility to engage expert industry professionals in the Senator RFP evaluation process. This potentially damaging controversy will otherwise continue to escalate and potentially undermine the professional credibility of all concerned.

Sincerely,

Laura Perkins
Friends of The Senator

Kiefaber: WTMD good fit for Senator Theatre

The Baltimore Sun has a Letter to the Editor from Tom Kiefaber today. Click here to read it, and also my response.

Tomorrow: Theatre Historical Society of America to visit The Senator!

Tomorrow afternoon at 12:45 PM, about 90 members of the Theatre Historical Society of America will visit The Senator as part of a tour of historic theatres in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The society's president, Karen Colizzi Noonan, told me that she has always wanted to vist The Senator. I understand there will be a very special presentation happening during their visit. Stay tuned for details!

In January, Ms. Noonan wrote a letter in support of The Senator to public officials including Governor O'Malley and Mayor Dixon.

Deconstructing Baltimore City’s “Offer” to Senator owner Tom Kiefaber

A few days ago, I asked Senator owner Tom Kiefaber if he would provide a copy of the “offer” letter (PDF) sent to him on January 26th by Andrew Frank, which our Deputy Mayor also simultaneously forwarded to The Messenger and the Sun directly from City Hall.

Astrogirl is not on City Hall's media recipient list, so I had to seek a copy of the letter from Tom, who first balked at the request. When I reasoned that City Hall had already released it to the media, he agreed to send me a copy.

After a few reminders, it showed up in my inbox, but without the comments that I expected would accompany it. That was a telling surprise. No comments from Tom Kiefaber about this strange and convoluted public "offer" from the Mayor's office? Is this the same Tom Kiefaber who in the past would always be ready to give the media and anyone else an insightful mega-dose of more than they really wanted to know?

In my opinion, Andrew Frank's letter is a revealing document that's purposely vague and legally unenforceable. It's a misleading ploy by our Deputy Mayor, acting on behalf of the city, to attempt to fool the public into thinking that City Hall will come to the rescue, while the clock runs down toward a foreclosure auction sale of The Senator. It's also clear as a bell to me and others that it was composed to trigger a diversionary media response, in order to undermine Tom Kiefaber's credibility and support. It was never intended to be a bona-fide offer.

The local media is also complicit by neglecting to sort out and investigate the specifics of this supposed "offer." Instead, they took the lazy rubber stamp slacker approach to the news and quickly turned the whole silly affair into some "will he or won't he accept the nebulous offer" nonsense. The media received the letter from City Hall at the same time as Kiefaber, and they immediately started hounding him like a pack of jackals, hungry for a conflict to exploit. Even Kiefaber's friends and supporters in the media inadvertently hung him out to dry, because they didn't do their homework and still don't understand the duplicitous motives of the key players.

Despite the contradictory, undefined nature of this written "offer," Kiefaber seemed to be compelled by the situation to quickly accept. He publicly called for the process to proceed, a process that virtually guarantees the loss of ownership of his beloved Senator Theatre, which he knows in and out better than anyone. It's surreal to see this play out in ways that don't add up.

Checking the press articles and TV reports turns up a number of conflicting versions of the deal and misinformed speculation that “Tom hasn’t accepted the offer,” putting the blame for the lack of a resolution on him. Keep in mind also that Tom’s family house hangs in the balance. It's pledged as collateral on The Senator’s commercial mortgage. He's probably still being forced to play along with the city’s ruse, in the increasingly far-fetched hope that if the offer was finalized, it would prevent the auction of his home. It’s reasonable to assume that he's being compelled to keep silent about what is actually happening behind the scenes, for fear of losing his home.

Let’s deconstruct the First Deputy Mayor's letter (PDF):

Dear Tom,

For reasons that you and others have articulated well, the Mayor agrees that we should make every effort to secure the future of The Senator Theater for generations to come. We commend you for your tireless efforts to preserve this Baltimore icon and applaud your willingness to support the creation of a non-profit corporation to own and manage The Senator Theater.

Translation: We’re going to butter you up so you’ll be more tender to carve when we bring out the knife. We’re also taking credit for your concerted efforts in past years to transition The Senator to non-profit ownership, but we applaud your willingness to go along with your, I mean “our” idea.

We understand that a small steering committee with expertise in non-profit management, film, theater management, and fundraising has agreed to study the feasibility of establishing such a non-profit, building on the considerable work that has already been completed. As an optimist, I am anticipating that the group will conclude that a non-profit is feasible under certain conditions, including a reduced debt burden.

Translation: We are taking all control of The Senator and its commercial development future out of your hands. We are relating that a secretive steering committee is competent to make this critical decision. (Bill Henry will later acknowledge it does not include anyone with any experience running a theater.) We’re hoping to obscure the fact that the steering committee is a shield and buffer, while we proceed to sort out an optimal method to help ensure the desired outcome of a foreclosure auction. This remains our favored way of reducing the theatre's debt burden, by shifting over most of it to be ultimately satisfied by the sale of your family home.

To that end, the City of Baltimore has been in discussions with First Mariner Bank to purchase the portion of The Senator Theater debt, $320,000, which is not secured by the City’s $600,000 loan guaranty. Under the conditions described below and subject to the approval of the Board of Estimates, the City would hold this portion of the debt as a non-amortizing soft second mortgage. The conditions are as follows:

Translation: We’re providing some broad-stroke numbers for the Sun and the copycat media to oversimplify, so they can lull the public into complacency. We’re building in a lot of excuses to wrangle ourselves out of this “deal,” as the theatre goes to auction.

· The steering committee concludes that The Senator Theater can be operated as self supporting non-profit corporation capable of raising sufficient revenue (through ticket sales and contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals) to cover debt and expenses.

Translation: We formed this steering committee to be able to say the recommendation is theirs, once we all determine just how this land grab and heart and soul-ectomy will come down.

· The Senator Theater would be deeded to the non-profit corporation before the City purchases the aforementioned portion of the debt.

Translation: In the event we find that allowing the creation of a non-profit is politically unavoidable due to public pressure, we’re going to make you sign over full control of the Senator Theatre building and your additional collateral real estate, before the ultimate ownership entity of your wonderful landmark theatre building is determined.

· First Mariner Bank agrees to release from its collateral the property at xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx [Tom’s home address removed for privacy reasons].

Translation: We’re trying to make you think you should play along, thinking that you might not lose your home. Remember, we said IF all these conditions are met. Fat chance of that happening, and now we are already backing off with Bill Henry out and around shilling for that probable outcome.

· 501 Orkney Road remains as collateral on the property.

Translation: Your house on Orkney Road is a residential property adjacent to commercially zoned parcels. We therefore want control over it and we want whatever equity may be there as well.

· The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development agrees to waive its claim to the theater and xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx [Tom’s home address].

Translation: We worked on this sentence and its double meaning. It sounds as if the State is on board with this offer, but we cannot make decisions for the State.

We understand not all of these conditions are in your control; however, the most critical condition is your willingness to transfer control of the property to the new non-profit entity. Please let me know if you are interested in pursuing this strategy.

Translation: You can’t do a thing about whether or not all of these many conditions are met, but we can make sure some of them are not met. All in all, we're going to put it to you, Mr. Kiefaber, take your wonderful theatre from you as cheaply as possible, and leave you personally with most of the debt. Also, the way we will discredit and defame you, you won’t be able to gather enough support to do anything about it after the fact.

Sincerely,

Andrew B. Frank
First Deputy Mayor