Dear Community Friends,
This Tuesday, there is an easy way for you to
show your support of the BCCA and its offerings.
The BCCA's Entertainment License (recently
taken off its evaluation period and deemed
renewable on an annual basis), which
defines the scope and limitations of events that are
allowed to occur at the center, is up for review for
possible relaxation of some of its requirements. We
need the support of our neighbors and patrons,
particularly those from Brookline, to appear at the
hearing to speak to the importance of our events to
this community and to the Greater Boston area.
The BCCA's main objectives for the hearing
are as follows:
1. Express the importance and value of our event
offerings to the community.
2. Lessen police detail requirements for evening
events. Currently a police detail (~$150 minimum)
is required for each event with an expected 100-person
or more count. This has not only been costly, but has
resulted in losses and highly diminished profits, and
deterred many from holding events at the BCCA. We
ask that, given our great track record (almost no
disturbances since our inception) and our
constant improvements in event management, this
requirement be restricted to certain types of events
and for those with over 150 participants.
3. Extend hours of operation by one hour each day
(to: Sun. - Wed. till 12 a.m., Thu. till 1 a.m., & Fri. -
Sat. till 2 a.m.) and allow occasional leeway for special
events. This is important for us to keep our
Greater Boston attendance (which diminished greatly
after our weekend hours were cut to from 2 to 1 a.m.),
increase the diversity of our event offerings, be able to
better manage and control the events, and for general
flexibility, especially since these events have been and
would be alcohol-free and family oriented. If we are
granted the ability to stay open till 2 a.m. on a
Saturday, for instance, it will allow us to end an event
at 1 or 1:30, yet still have adequate time to quietly and
carefully disperse our patrons, especially those
departing in groups.
4. Clarify, once and for all, our position on serving
alcoholic beverages. Namely, until we were
advised by the Board of Selectmen to consider applying
for a permanent alcohol license, we had occasionally
asked for temporary licenses for special events. When
advised as such last summer, we agreed to apply for a
permanent license, not knowing the scope of the
application process and the repercussions it would have
upon our image. Shortly after enlisting the services of
a prominent lawyer to handle our application, we
decided to put the process on hold until if and when a
true necessity arose for such a license, and the
community felt comfortable with our decision as well.
We have not held any public events since August of
2003, where alcohol was served (via a temporary
license). The temporary license for this weekend's
private benefit event at the BCCA is the first we have
applied for since August of 2003 (that's less than one
license this year!). We view ourselves as an important
all-ages venue and as such we do not intend at this
point in time to apply for more than the occasional
temporary alcohol license, and hope that this
statement helps to clarify our position as a community
center rather than a club.
5. Address any unresolved concerns that
community members or officials may have. We
have already addressed and rectified concerns raised
from the previous Entertainment license hearing and will
continue to endeavor to increase the quality of our
management and services.
Achieving these objectives is essential to upholding the
BCCA's mission as a safe, cultural, and artistic
environment where people of all ages, backgrounds,
and abilities can make positive connections -- day or
night.
The Town of Brookline needs to hear from you, the
community members, that you are behind us in support
of this mission.
