E.C.H.O.

Ecological Community Housing & Offices

(a new Eco-Center plus)

~A supplement to the proposal for the BCOS Sustainability Initiatives drive.~

Recently, a group affiliated with the former Eco-Center (now in limbo w/no public office) were working on the idea of acquiring a new property which could house the Center for Sustainable Living, other community, environmental & non-profit groups &also accomodate a community media center & venue for benefits & events.  They were running with the name EpiCenter (short for the Epicenter for Community Outreach or E.C.O.).

The idea of the EpiCenter was that it would be cheaper & more stable, particularly for CSL, to own our own building.  In the past, landlords have raised rent & holding benefit events at other facilities is often expensive.  The income of CSL also varies, though members usually come through with donations when the Center indicates a need. 

The Eco-Center recently closed when we were down to a few hundred dollars in the treasury.  Around $2500 in donations came in after the decision was already made to temporarily close down the physical location on Kirkwood. CSL had already moved to a smaller office in the same refurbished house after losing partners Heartwood & the Indiana Forest Alliance, whom had shared expenses, equipment & space until decisions were made to close their regional offices in Bloomington.

After considering spaces like the Pollard Lodge on West Sixth Street in tandem with Capoeira, a cultural/martial/arts organization, momentum was lost among core organizers.  The lodge ceilings were deemed too low for the gymnastic acrobatics of the Capoeira group.  Interest by the Black Business Association was conveyed by the realtor, but contact wasn't established with the group. 

Though the lodge was owned by a now defunct Elks chapter, a principle benefactor who had donated money was looking for a return on their initial investment, being out of the range of current CSL funds. Concerns of the neighborhood association about use as a venue, parking problems & zoning considerations also served to discourage the principle parties.  The house beside the lodge, included in the parcel of land, is to be historically restored, further complicating matters.  So the search is in a sort of stasis.

Holistic Affordable Housing (H!A!H!) sees an opportunity to combine the objective of creating low cost, accessible, urban eco-housing with providing space for its parent organization, CSL, & other non-profit & environmental groups & addressing the need for an alternative media center & eco-storefront in Bloomington.

While the concept sounds a bit grandiose, it could be accomplished or at least initiated in fairly modest circumstances, like an old multi-bedroom house or vacant factory.  CSL has operated out of meager facilities since their inception & have spawned independent projects like the Community Bike Project, likely the most financially viable arm of CSL, paying regular dues & maintaining a separate facility in downtown Bloomington. 

Members of the Center for Sustainable Living are also supportive of H!A!H!'s push for energy efficiency, alternative energy generation & eco-architectural elements in the design of the new facility. 

Another central purpose of E.C.H.O. is to create connections & collaborations between independent media makers & local activists in order to foster more effective community outreach for the organizations, helping them to grow & better educate the citizenry about important public affairs issues & how they can be part of the solutions to societal problems.

Possible partnerships might include I.U. student organizations, like the Bloomington Media Arts Group, media-related non-profits like Matrix magazine & Boxcar Books & Community Center.  The Arts establishment in Bloomington may also be interested in a new venue/gallery for local artists. Other environmental groups with chapters in Bloomington would likely appreciate location in a centralized grassroots action center. 

If the space were large enough to reabsorb the Community Bike Project, they would be a stable tenant.  Entities like the Bloomington Alternative may grow into enough prosperity to wish to be included.  Peace groups, voting rights organizations & other progressive entities could also be made to see the benefits of collaborating in terms of space, equipment & facilities.

Possible funding sources, aside from local, state & federal grants would be Foundations devoted to promoting media reform, protection of democracy, human rights & the ecosystem, as well as celebrities, activists & tycoons like John Mellencamp, Jim Davis, Bill Gates, Ted Turner, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ed Begley Jr. & Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Hopefully, these ideas will inspire the Sustainability Commission, the Mayor & City Council to consider the possibilities rather than dwell upon possible impediments to the unorthodox & comprehensive plan for a new grassroots action center/green storefront/eco-apartment complex.

greenthecity@yahoo.com

See:  www.bloomington.in.gov/sustainable

Initial Proposal under E.C.H.O. is viewable @:

groups.yahoo.com/group/sustainabloomington

groups.yahoo.com/group/ActiVista