Dan

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:02:49 -0800

There's actual reporting on this now over at the stranger. Particularly interesting is the stuff about Mars Hill's plans, or lack thereof, for the future of the Paradox. “You’re not going to change anything at all?” I asked him. “We really don’t know. We want it to be tied in a little bit closer with the church and we don’t know what that means. The last thing we want is for the Paradox to become an inhospitable space to people that are not involved with Mars Hill. The whole reason Mars Hill has done it is for it to be a hospitable club to the city with no strings attached, and that’s going to continue. Mars Hill has probably invested probably over $400,000 in the Paradox over the years. And we really value the local music scene and want to see it prosper. I’m not saying the Paradox hasn’t been accomplishing those things, it’s just at a place where, you know, we feel like we need to reevaluate how can it serve the city best and we don’t really know what that looks like yet.” Jennings also admits, though, that the change in management will leave some people to question the venue’s intentions. “I think it will leave a lot of people to question and time will show the truth of what the Paradox is about. People should see it, taste it, touch it, and then draw their own conclusions.” Yet, they still don’t know what “it” is or will be? “To be honest with you, Megan, I had hoped we were going to have all of this figured out before we went public with it,” he said. “We don’t have all the answers yet because we weren’t planning on sharing it until we knew exactly what was going on.” I asked him why, if there aren’t any plans for the venue, are all the drastic changes being made with such urgency. But he didn’t have an answer. It seems likely that the church lost track of the Paradox over the years, and didn’t realize that the venue had become so separated from Mars Hill. Once it came to their attention that the Paradox was seemingly out of their hands (with the exception of financial ties), they panicked.

ArGee

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:11:26 -0800

That's REALLY too bad. Mars Hill is a cancer on this city, and I hate to see it spreading further. The Paradox people have done an amazing job and deserve high praise. Pun intended.

Seattlest: Mars Hill Pulling The Plug On The Paradox

Dan

ArGee