Shipyard SHUTDOWN by Berkeley

[Larnie Fox]

I just emailed a group of Berkeley City officials on behalf of the Shipyard. If you don't already know, they are a community of artists and engineers that have been doing really groundbreaking art and technology independently in Berkeley for the last six years, and they've been given three days to vacate. This really sucks! My email to them follows, then some stuff from Jim Mason, the alpha of the outfit. If you're feeling political, this is a good time to get some emails, etc. out. A good email list to start with is  below. 
=+=
Larnie Fox
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http://www.infoflow.com/larnie
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"Counterclockwise to loosen"
 
 
Bodil is your Realtor
http://www.bodilfox.com
______________________________________________________

An open letter to the City of Berkeley

I'm writing in opposition to Berkeley's recent decision to force a quick eviction of the artist's space in Berkeley known as the Shipyard. 

New culture as a rule does not usually emerge from mainstream cultural establishments; it emerges from the fringes. The same could be said about truly innovative technologies.

The decision to evict the Shipyard is the 21st century equivalent of Kitty Hawk banning kite flying or Paris disallowing the Salon des Refusés.

The Shipyard has been a place where artists have been allowed to make important and ambitious work over the last six years. Artists and engineers have created hundreds (thousands?) of innovative pieces and performances there, including elegant, substantial new work: giant steam powered victorian vehicles, working wooden clock towers, and a carbon-neutral pickup truck that runs on refuse. The current gasification project has the potential of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. This is important work by any cultural or technological standard. The physical plant is itself an important experiment in alternative energy use. 

We understand that there were code violations, but we also understand that the Shipyard has been working with the City, in good faith, to mediate those violations. Is it really so difficult to accommodate artists and inventors? As a city employee myself (Palo Alto Art Center) I understand liability and safety issues, but there needs to be a balance, and there must be a place for our innovators to work. Otherwise, we are doomed as a culture of any lasting importance. 

The timing of Berkeley's action is particularly reprehensible. Three days notice to remove over a million pounds of artist's material and structures is ridiculous and arbitrary. A team of artists was just gearing up to build a breathtakingly ambitious work, "Mechabolic", that would be enjoyed by thousands of people and likely be a subject for future art historians, as well as advancing our understanding of gasification as an alternative energy source. The project was recently mentioned favorably in the New York Times. 

Berkeley has an international reputation for progressive "out of the box" thinking. With this action, Berkeley is saying to the world that this reputation is no longer deserved. You are opting for a safer, less vibrant culture. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety".

Larnie Fox

http://www.infoflow.com/larnie/
_________________________________

Sent to:

City Manager's Office
[email protected]
Mayor Tom Bates
[email protected]
Councilmember Linda Maio
[email protected]
Councilmember Laurie Capitelli
[email protected]
Councilmember Darryl Moore
[email protected]
Councilmember Betty Olds
[email protected]
Councilmember Maxwell Anderson
[email protected]
Councilmember Kriss Worthington
[email protected]
Councilmember Dona Spring
[email protected]
Councilmember Gordon Wozniak
[email protected]
Planning Department
[email protected] Joan MacQuarrie <JMacQuarrie>, Mark Rhoades
<MRhoades>, "Orth, David" <dorth>,
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], Maurice Norrise
<mnorrise>, [email protected]

_______________________________________________



Begin forwarded message:
From: "jim mason" <jimmason>
Date: May 13, 2007 2:30:52 PM PDT
To: Icp <icp>
Subject: [Shipyard Announce] shipyard closed down by the city of berkeley

for those who have yet to hear, eariler this week the city of berkeley
issued the shipyard an order to "vacate and abate" the Shipyard and
ALL Power Network facility within 3-days.  their reasons are "life
safety" issues regarding electrical and structural integrity of the
shipping containers.  these are issues we have been working on with
them for quite some time and they have known about and found the risks
tolerable for nearly 6 years.

this action is particularly annoying, as we were currently in very active
collaboration, discussion and drawing delivery to finish the process.
we have very capable and respected structural engineers and architects
on this project, and we were a mere few weeks away from a full
submittal for the construction permit to build out the full
legalization.  these are facts they know.

but for reasons somewhat opaque, the city suddenly decided to "force"
us to finish this process in a "shutdown" manner that would in reality
eliminate the facility.  we were ordered to remove all objects from
all containers, and move the containers themselves away from property
lines to abate their "fire danger", and do all this within three days
or face $2500 a day fines and potential jail.  as our total
infrastructure weighs close to one million pounds, and 30 people have
their lives and projects intertwined with it, this is clearly an
impossible request to meet, which they know.  i believe this is called
entrapement in other contexts.

but the threats were real, and many people have important projects
that need to start immediately, so we were forced to capitulate and
agree to vacate the site.  i made this decision as i saw it as the
only way to stop their enforcment and fines, which is of course the
decision they wanted me to make.

fortunately our entire infrastructure is containerized and we have the
forklifts and trucks to move them en masse.  so that is what we are
doing currently.  the shipyard is moving to oakland for at least the
summer so we can get through the current build season.

where all this goes in the fall and afterwards has yet to be
determined.  the city of berkeley has acted excessively and in breech
of the good faith and focussed legalization efforts that were
currently underway.  the city is currently getting quite an earful
about their actions and how it effects the culture of art and
innovation that is the point of the bay area (and supposedly
berkeley).   i imagine they are likely to get a few earfuls more
before this is all over.

you can see the "vacate and abate" order from the city, as well as
other relevant documentts at http://www.theshipyard.org/

there is a very entertaining KTVU ch 2 segment here, done live from
the site on friday: http://www.ktvu.com/video/13307846/index.html

other media to date is here:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/11/ev ... ys_sh.html
http://radar.oreilly.com/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... PJM520.DTL
http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007 ... t_and.html
http://laughingsquid.com/berkeley-shuts ... -shipyard/


and my letter to the city . . . . .  . . . . .


Subject: The Shipyard / ALL Power Network agrees to vacate 1010 Murray
and 1017 Folger

From: jim mason <jimmason>      Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: Joan MacQuarrie <JMacQuarrie>, Mark Rhoades
<MRhoades>, "Orth, David" <dorth>,
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], Maurice Norrise
<mnorrise>, [email protected]
Date: May 10, 2007 5:17 PM


After extensive consulation with our various design and engineering
professionals, as well as feedback from several of you this week, it
has become very clear to us that we cannot meet the terms of your May
8th "vacate and abate" notice.  We therefore have decided to end our
art and alternative energy endeavers here in the City of Berkeley and
move to a new location.

We come to this conclusion with tremendous sadness and loss, as the
open collaborative space we have built here has become a deeply
vibrant art/tech skunkworks, continually churning out heroic
creativity in the arts as well as very needed innovation in DIY, open
source, alternative energy endeavors.  We have undertaken these
activities as a community collaboration, and used our creative and
innovative work as an civic engine for generating meaningful community
for many.  The results have been tremendous, vastly exceeding any
expectations we had when we started this 6 years ago.   Very much
appreicate the resources the city of berkeley has offered us to help
make this possible, and hope the city feels some benefit in the other
directions from our presence.

Despite these successes, we clearly have not been able to bring the
full submission for the construction permit in order in a timely
manner.  The questions and challenges of justifying the completely
atypical building materials of recycled shipping containers has
overwhelmed us at many points.  The latest, and most significant set
back here was Joan's instructions 4 days ago to our structural
engineer, Pat Buscovich, about the type of calcs she will need to
prove the two high stacked shipping containers.  The requirements
finally clarified in this conversation presented a hurdle we
realistically cannot clear without taking on a general "proving" of
shipping containers as a new rated assembly for habitable buildings.
Such a project is well beyond our means and interest.

It is deeply frustrating that we have arrived at an unfixable
structural proving problem this late in the process, as we have
solution for all other aspects of this project, and they are drawn in
detail by our licensed architect, Les Young.  We are at 95% complete
with the total submittal, but we cannot clear the now clarified
structual hurdle.


We have considered a reduced submittal with just a single high
container layout, so as to greatly simplify many of the structural and
seismic issues.  Unfortunately, the resulting density of art studios
onsite would not provide adequate physical facilities for us, nor
generate the needed revenue for sustainability.

Furthermore, I personally feel great responsibility for the community
of artists and engineers gathered here at the Shipyard and ALL Power
Network, and I now see that I will not be able to provide the needed
facilities for everyone's activities while we finish the legalization
under a full site shutdown.  I had previously believed we would
proceed through the legalization while we remained able to use the
facility.  With this option now gone, I need to immediately move all
our people and physical infrastructure to a new location outside the
City of Berkeley where everyone can continue their activities
relatively uninterupted.

I am currently in the process of acquiring a new site in Oakland to
which we will remove ALL containers currently on site at 1010 murray
and 1017 Folger, en masse.  All contested structures on site currently
will be removed as soon as possible, and all related messes cleaned
and brought into order.  During the process, we will submit a permit
to replace the removed firewall opening between the two properties, as
well as electrical permits to return the system to its original form.

Given the scale of facilities and infrastructure at 1010 murray and
1017 folger, we cannot physically complete all that has been asked of
us under the 3 day deadline.  We have started the moving already, but
it is not going to be done by the deadline of the end of the day
Friday as the enforcement letter states.

I therefore request a modest amount of additional time to vacate all
contested structures from the site, so we can end this attempted
legalization safely, cleanly, and respectfully.  You will see
significant progress in clearing the site by the end of the weekend.

Fully finishing the clearing of both lots will likely take one month.
But you will see regular progress daily during this process. All
containers will be removed from 1017 Folger by the end of the weekend.
 The ones at 1010 Murray will take a little more time, as the
complexities of their fixturing are much more involved.


Futhermore, we are complying with all your requests regarding
immediate public safety issues.  All your stated violations and
corrections for wrongly energized electrical, stored combustables and
unsafe propane heaters are being eliminated within the 3 day deadline.

While we are clearing off both sites, I hope we can communicate and
collaborate on how to bring the facility to a close in a manner
acceptable to and respectful of your needs.  Please call me at
510.812.3656 so we can clarify details of this process.

With respect and gratitude for all you have allowed us to be and do
here in the City of Berkeley.


Jim Mason


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jim mason
website: www.whatiamupto.com
email: [email protected]
announce list: http://lists.spaceship.com/listinfo.cgi ... ceship.com
current project: mechabolic (http://whatiamupto.com/mechabolic/index.html)
_______________________________________________
icp mailing list
[email protected]
_______________________________________________
=+=
Larnie Fox
+  +    +         +    +    +     +              +
http://www.infoflow.com/larnie
+    +    +    +         +     +     +           +
"Counterclockwise to loosen"


http://lists.spaceship.com/listinfo.cgi ... ceship.com
[color=indigo][/color]

[gyre]

Any media addresses?

I wrote to the clown college that runs the city.

[Larnie Fox]

Glad you wrote to Berkeley Officials. I don't have a list of media ~ maybe someone else does ~ or you can surf for it & post.

[domitron]

So is Mechabolic still going to make it to the playa this year after this shut down? It's the most amazing piece of the year. I hope it shows.

[dragonfly Jafe]

So is Mechabolic still going to make it to the playa this year after this shut down? It's the most amazing piece of the year. I hope it shows.

I hope they finish it...

[domitron]

With this setback I doubt they'll finish it, but I just hope they show at all. It wouldn't be the first time a super ambitious project didn't show at all on the playa.