Big Turnout for Meeting at Alpha Building Tonight
There appeared to be more than a hundred people in attendance at tonight’s brainstorming meeting at the Alpha Building in Nevada City (first announced here on September 15th).
The crowd was spirited and upbeat during the potluck and the brief speeches by Reinette Senum, Mali Dyck, Jason Rainey, Tania Carlone and Gary Tintle, co-owner of the Alpha Building.
Following these brief introductory speeches, the crowd broke up into smaller working groups to consider the various regions of the approximately 30,000 square-foot space.
We were unable to stay for the entire evening, but we did catch an interesting unplanned moment: Caroline Szekely, co-owner with her husband Rick of the nearby “Nevada City Marketplace” on Pine Street, politely interrupted Tania Carlone’s talk early in the session and asked to speak.
Tania graciously yielded the floor for a few minutes while Ms. Szekeley expressed her concern that the new group not use what she claimed is the proprietary term, “Nevada City Marketplace.” Her words of concern were met by some indistinct murmurs and applauded primarily by a small contingent at the rear of the crowd, who also applauded her at the conclusion of her remarks. Tania thanked her for her courage in addressing this session, and the brief interruption ended amicably.
Reinette reminded all present that their regular weekly sustainability working group is open to all interested parties (Thursdays at 9 AM in the council chamber).
This regular working group will soon be reviewing the suggestions that come out of tonight’s brainstorming session, which they hope will be “one hundred thousand square feet of ideas … so they may spill over to the rest of the community.”
4 thoughts on “Big Turnout for Meeting at Alpha Building Tonight”
Can’t blame the Szekelys for being upset about this, watching two years of work and a huge investment getting hijacked by a (proposed) government subsidized competitor.
RL,
Those of us working on the the Alpha Building concept are far from ‘highjacking’ the SP Marketplace idea. If this is the case, does that mean the Szekelys are highjacking the Ferry Plaza Concept or the old Alpha Building concept from years back when it originally was a variety of kiosks? The concept of a ‘marketplace’ is as old as the English language itself. The Alpha Building concept is far larger than just containing a myriad of markets which, by the way, we currently have as a variety of businesses throughout the county utilizing this business model. The Alpha project involves a complexity of layers that are meant to serve the local economy and those who currently have not been able to financially afford to get their foot in the door by providing options such as a certified kitchen, non-profit co-op, and possibly an alternative health center or small hardware store.
Regarding the business name, the Alpha Building ‘marketplace’ was, by no means, the official name of the business. It was used to represent a concept. Most people understand the general term ‘marketplace.” The name has not been finalized.
It would appear that the Alpha Building supporters have grabbed, “Nevada City Markeyplace as a Facebook page, and the Szekelys own http://www.nevadacitymarketplace.com . I could be wrong. Whatever winds up in the Alpha building should be able to have its own distinctive web address. Nevada City Indoor Street Faire? Artisans’ Showcase?
Douglas,
I have no idea who started Nevada City Marketplace Facebook. It’s clearly not the team of people working on the Alpha Building concept. It’s a totally different group of people with a very different objective.
Obviously, the word “marketplace” has been used a bit around this town. Again, I think it is important that people understand that our use of the word “marketplace” was meant to describe a portion of the business concept. It was never meant as the official name…