Some of the
crafts booths in the Theater have deteriorated to the point
where major reconstruction is sorely needed.
The booths in the worst condition are the group of 12
booths (booths # 41-52 – see attached sketch).
The metal roofing on these booths is badly
deteriorated, and some of the wood is rotted.
Although the lighting was upgraded to new wiring and
fixtures this year, we do not have electrical outlets
accessible to the booths, which is the standard that we have
adhered to for newer construction.
It has also been suggested that a rearrangement of many
of the crafts booths would provide much better utilization of
booth space and would make these booths much more marketable
to vendors.
At present, our pricing for crafts booths is not much
higher than two 18 day tickets.
Our crafts booths are “juried” which means that a
decision as to which crafters are allowed booths are based on
a review of their products.
For example, we regularly get requests to sell Asian
made jewelry or other cheap junk and those requests are
denied. We have
enough space to accommodate all of the crafters that meet our
standards. It is
our belief that we do not need to materially increase the
number of booths.
Objectives
of booth reconstruction and relocation are:
- Replace rotted and deteriorated materials
- Bring more booths into conformance with our
power/electrical standard of two lights plus access to an
electrical outlet from every booth.
- Bring more booths into conformance with our footprint
objective of 10 feet by 10 feet dimension
- Make better utilization of space that has been freed
up along the property line fence since the dead trees have
been cut.
- Increase the number of booths that have two sides
accessible to the public
- Improve drainage under and around booths
- Improve pedestrian traffic flow around booths by
standardizing the walkway widths where feasible.
It
has been suggested that 4 new 10 x 10 booths could be built
along the property line fence behind and downhill from Judy
Meador’s booth (#16). This
space used to be covered by Oaks, but (sadly) isn’t any
more. It has also
bee suggested that this would mean removing Judy’s booth.
It has also been suggested that the island of 12 booths
(which are 8 x 8 foot booths) (#41-52) should be converted to
two groups of 4 booths that are 10 x 10 feet).
To make this work, the existing island of 4 booths
furthest up the hill (#37-40) would need to be moved further
up the hill by about 10 feet.
If all of these suggestions were taken, we would have a
net loss of one booth, but would be upgrading 12 booths from 8
x 8 to 10 x 10, and all crafts island booths would be
fourplexes, allowing sales from two sides of the booth.
There
is debate as to whether booths should be constructed with a
path of consistent width between the existing booths along the
property line fence and the new booth islands or if the new
islands should be constructed in an arch fashion to make them
equidistant from the stage, improving appearance from inside
the theater.
It
is not a part of this project, but it has been suggested that
the row of crafts booths closest to stage left (#1-9) could be
rebuilt to be 20 feet deep, or that another row of booths
could be built behind them.
At
this point, we are seeking input, suggestions and comments as
to how best rebuild the crafts booths.
Consistent with KFF policy, input received from this
request for proposals/comments will be reviewed by the project
manager and proposals will be submitted to KFF’s board as to
how best to proceed on craft booth reconstruction.
