Scene 4: First Look at the Potential Venue

Backstory:

As we began to prepare for our project in Maitland Garden Village, we believed that finding a proper venue that best suits the help centre would be a large aspect of our time in the village. Most of the preparation period was spent learning how to strengthen the project through proper community resources, management, and possible funding options. With little research into the possible venue, we have a meeting with Ronell and Sheila over the phone as they began to express their interests in several possible venues and plots that may be suitable for the help centre. Think there may be a narrowed list of options, we were confident we would find a location through the some research and be able to move on as we also determined methods of managing the centre.

Planning:

• What are the possible venues for the centre?
• Who were the previous/current owners of the land or buildings?
• Where is the land in relation to the community?
• What departments of the city council must we go through to obtain the land?
• Will the land be owned or leased?
• What size is necessary for the help centre?
• What programs will be run at the location?
• Will the location disrupt the neighbors?
• Will other organisations be able to use the venue?
• What are possible funding options?
• The team saw the possible venue
• The venue had been vandalized hinting at crime in the village
• There is more crime around, but still minimal in the village
• The proposal is a key aspect of our project
• A community garden will be part of the project
• It is necessary to find which departments must be contacted to find ownership to be able to establish a possible lease agreement for the property with the CBO as well as finding the responsibilities of doing so.

Key “Take Home” Observations:

• The team saw the possible venue
• The venue had been vandalized hinting at crime in the village
• There is more crime around, but still minimal in the village
• The proposal is a key aspect of our project
• A community garden will be part of the project
• It is necessary to find which departments must be contacted to find ownership to be able to establish a possible lease agreement for the property with the CBO as well as finding the responsibilities of doing so. 

Action and Observations:

After making initial connections with Ronell and Shelia at the soccer field and Ronell’s house, the two ladies told us that they had already found a potential venue. Excited to get the project started, we asked if they could show it to us. They brought us to an abandoned building that was once part of a driving range. The driving range is now abandoned and the land and house are potentially available for use.

Leaving Ronell’s house, we took a quick walk down a littered dirt path towards a white abandoned building. Looking at the relatively large one story driving range building next to a field of dirt and over grown grass, the possibility of a venue had become tangible and the hopes and excitement began to grow. One key observation the team made was that the building was vandalized. This went against all we were told by the community in regards to its non-existent crime rate. We asked our sponsors about this; they seemed to believe it was a result of members of a neighboring village. Whether or not this was true, it was an interesting piece of information to think about.

Walking around the well-structured and abandoned building, the idea of a proposal was once again mentioned, but there was a slight twist to it. Coming back to the parking lot near a large dirt patch in the grass, we met up with Basil and Godfrey, who were there to speak with our team and the pathway team about the agricultural aspects of the project.  We were informed that the patch of grass was proposed to be community gardens that may be used for marketing goods that would benefit the community. With this, we were told that this was to be part of the project and an addition to the proposal that had been previously mentioned.

Meeting with Basil and Godfrey, we were further informed on the current status and process of obtaining rights to using the land that is necessary for the centre and garden. The agricultural department of the city would need to inspect the land to check the feasibility of growth, leading to the search for ownership. Once the ownership is determined, contracts for use may be established and a base for the Green Light Project and possible sustainability effort would be established.

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