AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from April 10, 2007
Present: B. Barrett, D. Stankus, K. Walker, Susan Harris (Cayuga Co. Arts Council), B. M. Lewis, D. Carabajal,
M. Alberici, Jeff Alberici (guest), Matt Drastal (guest) and J. Kline
Excused/Absent: S. Tucker, M. Vanek, D. Lamb, J. McCormick, L. Leary, P. Wisbey, E. McHugh, Rev. Carter,
P. Copes Johnson, B. Anderson and D. Dempsey
I. Approval of the Minutes
B. Barrett read the Commission’s mission and vision statements, and M. Alberici asked for approval of the 2/13/07 minutes. K. Walker made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted, seconded by D. Carabajal. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Planning & Development Committee
M. Alberici introduced teachers Jeff Alberici and Mark Drastal who have been working on promotional DVDs for “Lessons on Auburn.” Jeff said they have been working slowly but surely on the project. The DVD they will presenting today is about Seward House. It ended up being a higher-quality product, therefore taking longer to produce. This will replace the PowerPoint presentation used to entice teachers and students to participate in the program. The length is about 7 minutes, and they decided to have a teenage girl narrate the piece as if she were Fanny, one of Seward’s daughters.
Jeff and Mark also distributed outlines of the procedure for submitting plans, with site contacts, format guidelines and an example plan. With the Commission’s consent, they will move forward and create DVDs of the other sites involved with the program. Everyone present was very impressed with the DVD, and agreed it was far more attractive than a PowerPoint presentation. K. Walker commented that it would be helpful if the narrator spoke a little slower. Before he left, J. Kline passed Jeff a booklet from GeoPoint Systems that offers cell phone audio tours for his review and opinion. (The Commission members moved out of the Council Chambers for the remainder of the meeting.)
D. Carabajal introduced Susan Harris, the Cayuga County Arts Council’s new Director. She just started the job a week or so ago. D. Carabajal said she met with some of the site directors about the Theater Festival, as part of the Blue Print Proposal. The group discussed the concept’s strengths and weaknesses and agreed the Festival would help us all. It was a good discussion to explore further how we would all fit into the larger vision of this idea. The Arts Council wishes that the Festival would take a broader view on the visual arts, which are so important to their mission.
III. Marketing Committee
J. Kline passed out copies of the monthly report, showing inquiry numbers since the last meeting. J. Kline referred to the revised ’06-’07 Advertising Schedule. We have added May ads in Country Home and More magazines, and she will be securing ads in the summer calendar inserts that run in the Post-Standard and Syracuse New Times. J. Kline said we received a bit more money in ILNY Matching Funds from the Tourism Office since Fair Haven could not make their match; there was money left over that was divided between applicants that did not receive their full request initially. This money goes towards our Meredith buy (BHG, MWL, LHJ & FC) and an ad in Preservation Magazine.
J. Kline said things are moving forward on updating and optimizing the Commission website. A draft of the new flow chart was discussed at the last meeting, and recommended changes and additions have been made. J. Kline is finishing up with the new copy that will get passed onto Coburn Design. They will then present us with two options for the new design/look, and J. Kline will request feedback from the committee. (This has happened and Coburn Design can now continue with the next step.)
J. Kline said in the packet there are visitation stats from ‘98, when the Commission started, and 2006, for sake of comparison. Although one site saw less traffic than they did in ’98 (Cayuga Museum), others nearly doubled (SMAC, Tubman Home & Seward House) or tripled their numbers (Willard Chapel).
IV. Community Outreach Committee
M. Alberici passed out copies of the “Passport to History” letter that went out to the schools that describes the program. M. Alberici and B. M. Lewis have made visits to all of the participating schools.
M. Alberici said one new change will be that each site will be given a supply of passports, and students will pick up theirs at the first site they visit, since some passports are wasted on students that don’t take part in the program. We are to collect a sheet from them, and have them write their names in the passports. Please mention to the students not to visit the Schine first or last since there is no contact there to distribute/stamp their passports. The program ends on May 25th.
M. Alberici said they are now working on prizes. D. Stankus is going to call Reva Rollerdrome and Casey Park pool for free passes. MP3 players will replace the bikes for larger prizes. Moving forward, county educators have responded favorably to expanding the program to other schools. We will need to tally up our passport supply to know when we would print the next round of passports. There is the potential to add 5 more county schools to the program.
V. Other Business
J. Kline passed out the Treasurer’s Report and reviewed expenses incurred since the last meeting.
D. Carabajal made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted, seconded by D. Stankus.
All were in favor and the motion carried.
J. Kline asked if any of the sites had submitted their applications for Thruway signage, and K. Walker said the Chapel had, and was waiting to hear. J. Kline passed out copies of an e-mail sent by S. Schuster re: a Subliminal History Project, if any of the sites were interested in pursuing it further.
M. Alberici and K. Walker talked about their tea and architecture events. Mike Long and Margaret Mosher are going to give presentations at the Chapel, followed by refreshments. Then June 3rd, a South Street walking tour is planned, with art displays on porches along the way. Refreshments will be available at Dr. & Diane Stankus’ house. D. Carabajal thought it would be nice if the tour could also include a stop at Auburn Schine Theatre. They could have a poster display in the glass cases along the Schine’s façade. Everyone present thought that would be a nice addition, and K. Walker and D. Carabajal were going to talk further. B. Barrett said the Chamber is hosting a reception for the new City and County Managers at the Chamber for anyone that was interested.
The Commission adjourned at 5:10PM. The next meeting will held June 12th at 3:30PM, in the 3rd Floor meeting room, City Hall.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
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