Vol. 3 A Publication of the GEAR Foundation Issue 3

HIGH GEAR

1976 GEAR

FUNDING WOES BESET GAY CENTER

by Timor Pudoris

The proposed Greater Cleveland Gay Community Services Center seemed about to become a reality last month, but more problems have pushed its opening further into the future.

On October 12, the GEAR Board decided at an emergency meeting that firm sources of funding would have to be developed before any lease could be signed by the GEAR Foundation. A reorganized task force met on October 16 and again on October 27 to try to plan funding for the proposed gay community center. That task force found that $16,500 was the rock-bottom amount needed to open the center and operate it for a year, and began investigating ways to obtain the money.

Responding to criticism that gays in Cleveland have not always been fully informed about the status of the effort to start the community center, task force members have started a publicity "blitz" through this newspaper, Radio Free Lambda, and an open forum; see story "GEAR Invites Cleveland Gays" in this issue.

ACTIVITIES PLANNED The gay community center would provide a central location for social, recreational, and educational activities of interest to gays in Greater Cleveland.

Rap groups and individual counseling now at the Free Clinic would move to the new gay center; gay group counseling could also be started. Gay Alcoholics Anonymous would also have counseling at the center.

The community center wouldn't compete with the bars, since it wouldn't serve liquor. However, it would provide an alternative to the bars with facilities such as a coffee house. The gay community center activities would be planned for times earlier than the peak bar hours, and of course, would include under-18 gays who can't go to the bars. Weekly dances would provide a social outlet and help to fund the center. (Other activities would be free, or would be planned to recover costs without making a profit.)

Office space would be provided at nominal rent for gay organizations such as GEAR itself,

Dignity, MCC, Gay AA, the gay switchboard/hotline, and publications. Gay organizations would also be able to use the center for a meeting place.

Educational activities of the GEAR Foundation, and the gay community in general, would have a home at the gay community center. A permanent library of gay literature is planned. Speakers would be

invited, and films shown. People with special skills would run courses and workshops, such as a gay literary review. Gay writers and artists could present their works at the center.

Task force members emphasized that the atmosphere of the center will be critical. It will have to be furnished as the sort of place where gay people will want to go. For the dances, this means a really first-rate sound system; for most of the other activities, the furnishings will have to be comfortable and attractive. All of this means money to set up the center, and lots of work to keep it in good shape.

BRADLEY BUILDING Located on West 6th Street downtown, the Bradley Building was the favored location, especially at a quoted rent of $1.00 a square foot per year. The GEAR Foundation could rent the first floor alone or in combination with the second or sixth floor. The upper floor would be used for counseling and offices, and the lower floor for social events and meetings.

Cleveland city codes require some changes before that space, which is basically warehouse space at present,

could be used for gatherings of any sort open to the public. First, the front door has to be modified not to swing out over the sidewalk. Then a fire door must be installed in the rear wall; because of the construction of the building, that means sealing off the rest room now located in the rear. Ventilation would have to be added. Finally, city codes for a

place of assembly require a women's rest room and one for men, which would have to be installed on the first floor if GEAR rented the first floor alone.

After some troubles arranging a meeting with contractors, task force members obtained an estimate of $7,000 to perform these alterations.

(The second floor already has the required rest rooms. If GEAR rented both floors and installed a connecting stairway, city codes would probably not require additional rest rooms on the first floor. The contractor estimated that installing the stairway and modifying the sprinkler system would cost $3,700.)

After altering the Bradley Building to meet city codes, the community center task force would have to clean out several years' accumulation of dirt. The old, cracked paint has to be removed from the walls, and -they must then be repainted; the floors have to be varnished or painted, at a minimum.

Because these renovations would both be expensive and take a long time, most task force members felt that other sites

should be investigated. These sites might quote a higher rent, but would not require so much. money and time at the beginning before the community center could open.

MONEY TROUBLE No matter which site is chosen, it's going to cost a lot of money thousands of dollars to furnish it and buy a sound system. The task force hopes to induce individuals or businesses to donate carpeting, paint, furniture, and sound equipment. (For the center to be appealing, the furnishings will have to be new or nearly new, not castoffs.) Items donated will provide tax deductions, since the GEAR Foundation is a tax-exempt educational foundation. In addition, free publicity will be given to businesses that donate needed items.

But even without considering the initial cost of furnishings, the center will need around $12,500 for operations in the first year ($1,039.50 a month). Of this, only about half ($525 a month) will be covered by anticipated income.

Because almost all of the expense items (see list below are overhead, cutting out specific planned activities wouldn't make the center any cheaper to run. In fact, the deficit may be even greater than $515 a month, because the budget assumes that all jobs

except cleaning will be done by volunteers.

Planners in the task force had hoped for a few hundred dollars a month from the profits of the HIGH GEAR newspaper. But coeditors John Nosek and Leon Stevens reported to the task force that the paper will not be able to promise much money to the community center in the near future. Many advertisers are irregular in paying their bills, and in fact the paper is in debt to the staffers for their out-ofpocket expenses. (See ad on Page 33 of last month's issue.) Finally, because manual folding has not worked out, the paper has had to take on extra expense for mechanical folding. GAY

CAPITALISM?

One possibility for raising the needed capital would be to start up a gay-run business, such as a coffee house or a restaurant. The investors who put up the capital needed to open the business (and the gay community center) would get the profits, and the business would support the center by direct grants or by making space available at very low cost.

Nobody presently on the task force has the know-how to develop this possibility. Persons with skills in setting up a business or attracting investors

OPEN FORUM

CLEVELAND-In an effort to

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Entertainment will be provided

provide gay people an by folk singer Tom Crouch and opportunity to voice community the Bruce Jones Dancers. A concerns, the G.E.A.R. buffet dinner is available at 2:00 Foundation is assembling an p.m. for only $3.00. The optional open forum 3:30 p.m., Sunday dinner will include a drink, main November 21st at the Vaults, course with salad and roll and 1281 W. 9th St. desert (Please call the Gay Switchboard, 216-696-5330 for dinner reservations). Those wishing to bypass dinner may come directly to the Vaults for the forum at 3:30 p.m. There will be no admission charge.

On the scheduled agenda are discussions on the future of the gay community center, the status of the local gay press and programs and services participants would like to see develop and remain in Cleveland and surrounding areas. The floor will be open to those who also wish to discuss local harassment, racism, v.d. referrals and other pertinent gay issues.

This is not a benefit, but a "town meeting," a chance to explore, relate, and build. Your presence is vital to the constructive growth of the Cleveland gay community.