How you can help #SaveKingOnBrewster before it’s too late:
Thanks to public testimony and unanimous support from the City Historic Conservation Board and Planning Commission, City Council and Mayor can now determine the fate of the King Records Building for which the owner is trying to demolish. Mayor Cranley has offered to talk with the owner and to discuss purchasing the building so that the #CivilRightsLandmark and King Records legacy will be restored by working with King Records musicians like Otis Williams, Philip Paul, and Bootsy Collins, along with the Evanston Community and BCF, CMHF, and others.
1 - Go to City Neighborhoods Committee Monday Oct 5 at 2 P.M. Arrive early to sign-up and take two minutes. #SayItLoud – even use your time to play something recorded at “1540 Brewster” with your iPhone to the mic like The Funky Drummer from a Public Enemy or N.W.A. song. 801 Plum Street, Council Chambers. David Mann, Chairperson; Wendell Young, Vice Chair; Kevin Flynn, Yvette Simpson
2 – Call, write and tweet Council members and Mayor to #SaveKingOnBrewster through Historic Landmark vote and to join Mayor to make offer to owner
3 – Spread the word that this may be a last opportunity to speak up and tell Council to #MakeReasonableOffer but #TakeKingOnBrewster if needed to #SaveKingOnBrewster
#SayItLoud
to City Council and Mayor
to #SaveKingOnBrewster
as #CivilRightsLadmark
where rock and roll, funk
and hip-hop were conceived
Contact Us - Clerk of Council
CityCouncil@cincinnati-oh.gov
Mayor.Cranley@Cincinnati-OH.Gov
Representatives of BCF and CMHF, joined by Evanston Community Council President Ms. Adkins, and others representing the King Experiential Learning Center group, will meet with the owner as scheduled for this Thursday, September 24. As official applicants of the Historic Landmark Designation, CMHF and BCF greatly appreciate this opportunity scheduled through his lawyers.
BCF and CMHF 4-point agenda:
1 - Thank the owner for talking in hopes of finding a win-win for all
2 - Ask owner to find a fair deal for city partnership, accepting and Mayoral/Council offer to #SaveKingOnBrewster and not tear down any of it
3 – Ask owner not to sue city and withdraw application to demolish the King Records Building
4 – Be clear that the movement to #SaveKingOnBrewster sees the building as a #CivilRightsLandmark not to be desecrated any longer
ROCK HALL PRESIDENT
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Terry Stewart was asked why the King Brewster buildings should be saved, he provided the following statement to Cincinnati elected officials and the public in 2008:
“Between 1943 and 1971 the address of 1540 Brewster Avenue in Cincinnati was home to some of the most vibrant and eclectic music making in America. There was never a more important piece of real estate musically or culturally in the history of popular music. King brought together a diverse range of American voices that reflect Cincinnati’s unique geographical position as a crossroads of American culture: rhythm and blues, country, bluegrass, rockabilly, pop and blues records all poured out of King’s studios. King’s musical diversity was also reflected in its business practices – it was a fully ethnically and racially integrated operation. King was also unique because it was a self-contained record label. Every facet of record production happened at 1540 Brewster Avenue, from recording to pressing to packaging to shipping. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is proud to recognize the importance of King Records by dedicating a historical marker and developing educational materials to tell King’s story to students in Ohio and around the world.” (fig. 2)
Rock Hall President Stewart directly addressed Cincinnati on the need to preserve King on Brewster saying, “It bears repeating and underscoring… There’s not a more important piece of real estate in musical history than the building over there on
Brewster. If you folks don’t remember and preserve it, shame on you. Remember it! It is so important to American culture, world culture… what happened in that building.” (The Emery Theater at the CEAs on November 23, 2008) SEE ON YOUTUBE:
