Dwight Metzger. photo: Kassandra Lau
If it weren’t for the upcoming auction of downtown, state-owned properties, Dwight Metzger’s decision to name the nonprofit he founded after the building that housed it would seem notable perhaps only in a footnote.
But the Gloo Factory, the progressive-leaning printing operation and likely source of any local bumper sticker, may soon dissociate from the Gloo Factory, the leaf-shrouded former photographic engraving studio at 106 E. Council St.
The building is among 10 parcels the Arizona Department of Transportation plans to sell to the highest bidder April 6. The plots were bought in anticipation of a thoroughfare to Interstate 10 that has since been rerouted. For two decades, the warehouses have served as a low-rent artists’ haven, spawning such arts groups as Flam Chen, BICAS and the All Souls Procession.
Metzger would really, really like to stay at his current home away from home. He’s been raising money for five months, amassing $22,000 of his $30,000 goal. That’s the amount required for a down payment on the property as appraised, also the amount to be eligible to bid at the auction. In a less ideal scenario, that money could land the Gloo Factory a home somewhere else.
There’s a website – SaveTheGlooFactory.org – and benefit auction scheduled for April 25 at Raices Taller Gallery, 218 E. 6th St., for which several big-name local artists have already committed work, among them Pasqualina Azzarello, Gavin Troy and Eric Twachtman.
There’s also a bill submitted by a couple of Democratic representatives to the state legislature that, if passed, would eliminate the difficult to define term “public purpose” as a requirement for cities buying state property. The term stymied city efforts to gain more control over the warehouse district’s future. The bill has been submitted to a legislature dominated by Republicans from the Phoenix area during a budget crisis.
As Metzger recounts these facts, he says, “There’s still hope.” He says, “Change is good.” He says, “We anticipate a happy ending.” He also says, “There’s been a lot of developer interest.”
His most immediate goal, besides guardianship of the First Amendment, is permanent affordability, regardless of its exact geographic location.
“Of course, we want (the golden era of the warehouse district) to last forever,” he said. “I don’t really feel anything but gratitude. What we have here in Tucson is really precious. We collectively have to find a way to preserve it. It doesn’t necessarily need to be here.”
But the Gloo Factory, the progressive-leaning printing operation and likely source of any local bumper sticker, may soon dissociate from the Gloo Factory, the leaf-shrouded former photographic engraving studio at 106 E. Council St.
The building is among 10 parcels the Arizona Department of Transportation plans to sell to the highest bidder April 6. The plots were bought in anticipation of a thoroughfare to Interstate 10 that has since been rerouted. For two decades, the warehouses have served as a low-rent artists’ haven, spawning such arts groups as Flam Chen, BICAS and the All Souls Procession.
Metzger would really, really like to stay at his current home away from home. He’s been raising money for five months, amassing $22,000 of his $30,000 goal. That’s the amount required for a down payment on the property as appraised, also the amount to be eligible to bid at the auction. In a less ideal scenario, that money could land the Gloo Factory a home somewhere else.
There’s a website – SaveTheGlooFactory.org – and benefit auction scheduled for April 25 at Raices Taller Gallery, 218 E. 6th St., for which several big-name local artists have already committed work, among them Pasqualina Azzarello, Gavin Troy and Eric Twachtman.
There’s also a bill submitted by a couple of Democratic representatives to the state legislature that, if passed, would eliminate the difficult to define term “public purpose” as a requirement for cities buying state property. The term stymied city efforts to gain more control over the warehouse district’s future. The bill has been submitted to a legislature dominated by Republicans from the Phoenix area during a budget crisis.
As Metzger recounts these facts, he says, “There’s still hope.” He says, “Change is good.” He says, “We anticipate a happy ending.” He also says, “There’s been a lot of developer interest.”
His most immediate goal, besides guardianship of the First Amendment, is permanent affordability, regardless of its exact geographic location.
“Of course, we want (the golden era of the warehouse district) to last forever,” he said. “I don’t really feel anything but gratitude. What we have here in Tucson is really precious. We collectively have to find a way to preserve it. It doesn’t necessarily need to be here.”
julian
