Oakland Metro Opera House Seeks Help From The Community

By capitalchaostv on March 10, 2016 • ( 0 )

After much struggling the new Operahouse, at 522 2nd Street, is open. To remain so, they must raise funds to complete sound containment required by their operating license.

Do you sometimes feel powerless to stem the tide of artists and cultural venues being destroyed or driven out of San Francisco and Oakland by the huge influx of ultra-wealthy businesses and individuals into the region? Are you going to stand by while yet another art and cultural space, which on a weekly basis hosts a wide range of cross-pollinating diverse communities, makes way for yet another culturally homogenized development?

For the past 15 glorious years the Oakland Opera Theater, and our venue the Oakland Metro Operahouse, have been presenting live performance of every ilk: opera, circus, spoken word, performance art, vaudeville, dance, theater, music . . . . .

We’ve been pushed around from space to space, but we’ve always managed to stay open and stay within a few blocks of Oakland’s Jack London Square.

About 18 months ago our landlords at 630 3rd Street asked us to leave in order to make way for a tech company able to pay 3 times as much rent. Fortunately, (and with their help) we were able to find a new spot (522 2nd Street) about 2 blocks away that’s actually really nice inside. There was a bunch of work to do on the building to pass fire and health inspections etc., as there has been every time we’ve moved, but we’ve already taken care of all that, and we are open and holding performances at 522 2nd. We have a 10 years lease on the building. Unfortunately once we’d put 6 months work and a huge amount of money into our new venue we discovered that we have a neighbor.

If you walk around the garbage and graffiti covered block that surrounds the new theater you will find trucking companies, vacant buildings and empty lots,, you wouldn’t think there could be anyone there who might object to others exercising freedom of expression, but there is. Our neighbor is neither resident, nor does he run a business in Oakland. He’s the privileged absentee landlord of a derelict building who doesn’t want us to operate, just in case he’s able to put a tech company in someday. So he contacted every conceivable regulatory agency and convinced one of them to put a zero tolerance noise restriction on the theater. So now we must do sound proofing in order to comply with the conditions of our operating license.

We are seeking $20,000 to build 3 “soundproofing”interior separation walls within the venue. This should help substantially in keeping the performance volumes from being heard much on the street. If you are able to help, even a small amount will make a large difference. It is our hope that through 1000’s of small donates we can meet our goal and stay open for the next many years.

This fundraising campaign began on March 10th and runs until March 25th, 2016

There are two ways to donate to our fundraising campaign, through Paypal or through the ticketing site, holdmyticket.com.

1) If you choice paypal, just follow the DONATE link above, enter the amount you wish to donate. There is a list of rewards for various donation levels HERE If you use paypal WE will be charged a percentage by paypal for the transaction.

2) If you choice holdmyticket event, hit the BUY TICKET link above. Buy the ‘TICKET” of the value you desire to donate There is no physical “event” to go to. March 10th marks the begining and March 25rd marks the end of our fundraising campaign. It’s just a way to except online donations. If you use holdmyticket YOU will be charged a percentage by holdmyticket for the transaction. Via Oakland Metro