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South Bend Redevelopment Commission <br />Regular Meeting -February 3, 2006 <br />4. COMMUNICATIONS <br />() continued... <br />pictures, posters, and graffiti, a cacophony of <br />visual imagery, all of it unpleasant and creepy. <br />The roof had small leaks and big gaping holes <br />where machinery exhausts once exited the <br />building. Now they let in snow, which piled high <br />onto the floor waiting for a spring thaw to clean <br />then, and heavy rain entered in torrents. <br />The furnace hadn't worked for probably seven <br />years, so all the gas lines had holes. Frozen <br />plumbing pipes were unusable, and the two hot <br />water heaters and the air conditioner no longer <br />worked. <br />Fire Arts was allowed to use this building, but it <br />wasn't ready to be used. The sturdy cement block <br />walls and the cement block kiln-room-to-be were <br />what sold us on the place, and the glass fronted <br />area would show off ouN finished artwork. <br />At first, we believed the city would make the <br />building habitable, but that was not to be. They <br />were encouraging and helpful, but all the money <br />came from our pockets, emptying the coffers of <br />our "buy-in, "the money each artist had to put in <br />to buy tools and equipment. A safe and secure <br />building was more important. Tools would have <br />to come later. <br />CONDITION OF THE FIRE ARTS BUILDING <br />IN JANUAR Y 2006 <br />We pat ourselves on the back when we see the <br />improvements we have made to the old PAC <br />building in only eighteen months. We held our <br />first work day on a Saturday to clean out the <br />debris, and people came fi^om city government <br />6 <br />