My father, Michael Head, was the architect for a (much-needed) remodeling of the Bowl in the 1970s. I remember going down with him to help measure and watch the work, sometimes (I was just a teenager). It seemed like a pretty grand project to me, though I didn’t think the cylindrical sound diffusers were very aesthetic!

Soon after that remodeling, I remember hearing Boulez conduct Stravinski’s Firebird Suite as part of the Festival. It was the first time I ever spontaneously jumped up (from sitting on the lawn, of course), and gave a standing ovation…just like everyone around me.

I’d lived in Ojai less than a year when, during the 1979 Music Festival, I heard the great Ravi Shankar playing sitar with tabla virtuoso Alla Rakha. It’s  only one musical memory of Libbey Bowl from among so many–such as the wonderful years of  the Bowlful of Blues–but it’s one I’ll never forget.

Ventura County Star

By Lisa McKinnon Posted January 28, 2010 at midnight

For supporters of the $3 million plan to rebuild Ojai’s Libbey Bowl, raising the final $600,000 for the project by late March isn’t just a dream. It’s a necessity.

“There is no Plan B. If we don’t have the money, we can’t tear it down,” said Alan Rains, president of Ojai Valley Service Foundation, one of the groups spearheading the campaign.

And if the performance venue isn’t torn down and rebuilt, it runs the risk of being condemned in its current state, said Jeff Haydon, executive director of the Ojai Music Festival.

Built in 1957, the outdoor structure has deteriorated to the point that it takes little effort to push a pencil into the rotted base of its wooden arch, Haydon said.

In recent years, the music festival has been able to present concerts at the bowl thanks primarily to the quick-fix efforts of “a MacGyver on our staff,” Haydon added.

Designed by Ojai architect David Bury, the project calls for relocating the stage so that it faces the lawn rather than a row of tennis courts, improving the drainage system and replacing the existing plywood benches with individual seats.

As the bowl’s most visible and longest-running tenant, the music festival raised the first $1 million for the project in just three months in 2008, said Haydon. Then the stock market took a dive, slowing but not halting the fundraising drive, he said.

The city of Ojai contributed $750,000 to the effort, adding an additional $170,000 by underwriting development fees, Haydon said.

Last winter, supporters suggested and then retracted a controversial idea to sell the naming rights for the bowl for $1 million. Donors still have the option of paying $250 each to have their names etched on bricks for new walkways.

“We’ve also got people naming trees; that’s very popular at $10,000 a tree,” said Haydon. Many such donors are opting to pay $2,000 per year for five years rather than the full sum all at once, he said.

Money also is coming in from neighborhood wine and cheese parties, noted Nita Whaley, who is coordinating community outreach efforts.

Time is of the essence, supporters say, because demolition of the bowl has to begin right after the music festival this June in order for the venue to be ready for the 65th annual Ojai Music Festival in June 2011.

As is required of any Ojai development with a budget of $1 million or more, the project will include the installation of a piece of public art. With a total price tag of $3 million, the Libbey Bowl project requires a public art component that is worth $40,000 or more, said Steve McClary, assistant to the city manager.

The winning proposal for the public art work was selected Tuesday by the Ojai City Council.

Titled “Sound Arch,” it will be created by sound sculptor Trimpin, the 1997 MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant recipient whose work was featured at the music festival in 2006 and 2009. It will consist of 24 reclaimed metal tubes, each fitted with resonators and internal mallet mechanisms that, when triggered by a motion sensor, will play electronic musical sequences.

The cost of the piece was factored into the $3 million fundraising campaign, Haydon said. “But if someone wants to underwrite it, we would be thrilled to take them up on the offer.”

Planners Approve Sound Arch

Hello All,

We are so excited to announce that a weekly column will appear in the Ojai Valley News featuring your memories at Libbey Bowl.  If you would like to share you story, please email Anna Cho at acho@libbeybowl.org.

Hi Everyone,  Just wanted to let everyone know that the following statement will be read at tonight’s City Council Meeting to address the controversy about renaming the Bowl:

Prepared Statement for the 12.8.09 Ojai City Council Meeting

Presented by: Bill Burr Jr.- Ojai Valley Service Foundation, Vice President

The Ojai Valley Service Foundation is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to facilitate funding important community projects in the Ojai Valley. Historically many community projects have been funded through the foundation such as; The Sarzotti Park Gymnasium, The Nordhoff High School Football Field Renovation, Restrooms and All Weather Track Project, The Pergola Project and others.

Currently, we are working with the community, the Music Festival and The City of Ojai to Save Libbey Bowl before it becomes unusable. Our “Save Libbey Bowl” campaign has committed to raising over $1 million dollars towards the $3 million dollar goal to fund the reconstruction of this city icon. The Ojai Valley Service Foundation is the non-profit entity through which the community will contribute to this critically important project.

I wanted to address the naming issue that has been in the papers for a couple weeks now.  Raising $1 million is a difficult task and we have been working hard to reach that goal.  We understand the importance of maintaining Ojai’s history and legacy.  After much thought, we have decided to take the $1 million naming opportunity OFF the table out of respect to the community.

We are seeking the council’s full support as we engage the entire community in creatively and completely funding the rebuilding of one of Ojai’s beloved iconic historical landmarks.  Whoever in the community values the Bowl–it is now your turn to step up to the stage and make your gift or multi-year pledge to this historic effort.   There are many opportunities to support this project, and we hope that everyone in the community will step forward to “Save Libbey Bowl.”

Editorial featured in 12-4-09 Ojai Valley News by Scott Eicher, Chief Executive Officer of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Sound Investment

My friend Alan Rains wrote in this space recently about the importance of Libbey Bowl to the cultural well-being of the Ojai Valley and the need for public support of the current $1-million community fund-raising campaign to replace it.

Alan’s point is unassailable. We cannot afford, after more than 50 years, to turn our backs on an investment – a gift, really – that an earlier generation made for our enrichment and pleasure.  I believe we have a responsibility to keep this cultural resource alive and well for the generations that will follow us.

But there is another significant point about Libbey Bowl that Alan did not mention in his editorial. In addition to being a source of community pride and enjoyment, Libbey Bowl – by staging events that attract thousands of visitors each year – has been a significant contributor to Ojai’s economy.

Each year, these visitors patronize local merchants, occupy beds and rooms at local inns and dine at local restaurants, spending an estimated $3 million in the process. These revenues translate into an estimated 75 FTE local jobs for many local residents and tax benefits for the City of Ojai and all of us who live and work here. Especially in difficult economic times like these, we cannot take these benefits lightly.

If there were no Libbey Bowl, the events that take place there would move elsewhere, taking their economic benefits with them. In fact, we have seen in recent years a steady decline in the use of the Bowl because of its structural deterioration and outdated audience accommodations. Total annual attendance has declined by almost a third in the last decade, from 35,800 to 26,500.

On the other hand, when the new Libbey Bowl is completed, with better seating, state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems and improved accommodations for the artists, we can certainly look forward to greater use of the Bowl – and larger revenues. Current projections place annual attendance at more than 42,000 in 2011.

Where will these new users and audiences come from? Certainly many past producers of Bowl events – the Shakespeare Festival, the annual blues festival, and many local school and holiday events – will be eager to return to an enhanced Libbey Bowl. Plus, new users – perhaps the Playwright Conference, Food for Thought and others –   will step forward to join them.

To make this vision come true, the community must – as Alan Rains suggested in his recent editorial – “step forward” and help raise the third million dollars now budgeted for the new Bowl’s construction. The city of Ojai and the Ojai Music Festival have already stepped up with $1 million apiece.

A fourth million dollars may also be in play, according to the Save Libbey Bowl Committee, which is spearheading the fund drive. If this anonymous gift comes through, it will provide a major hedge against any construction overruns, as well as endowing a maintenance and management program for future Bowl operations.

There is no denying that saving Libbey Bowl is a major financial commitment for our community. But it is an investment that will pay many times its cost in future pleasure for all our citizens – and a hefty economic return as well.

Editorial printed in the Ojai Valley News 11-11-2009 by Alan Rains, President of the Ojai Valley Service Foundation, businessman and  lifelong resident of Ojai.

Bowl Raising

The centerpiece of cultural life in Ojai for much of the last century is an old friend who’s fallen on hard times and badly needs a helping hand.

You probably know the name: Libbey Bowl. And while the vital signs are not good – creaky joints, fallen arches and unreliable plumbing – there’s every reason to expect a full recovery . . . provided the community steps up to the plate.

Set among the majestic oaks and sycamores in the center of Ojai, Libbey Bowl has been the heart of our community’s cultural life for over 50 years. Originally designed by esteemed architects Austen Pierpont and Roy Wilson, the Bowl has been a welcoming showplace for music, drama, pageant and community spirit.

Unfortunately, the Bowl now needs a serious makeover. The bad news is that wood rot and termites have compromised the structure beyond repair. The good news is that efforts are already under way to build a new Libbey Bowl, one that will preserve the distinctive charm and function of the original, and bring significant improvements for audience and performers alike.

The cost of the new Bowl, including improved audience seating, dressing rooms and landscaping, is estimated at $3 million. To date, $2 million of this money has been raised or pledged through the auspices of the City of Ojai, the Ojai Civic Association and the Ojai Music Festival. To get the job done, we need another $1 million.

The time has now come for the community at large to step forward.

To spearhead the community effort to raise this $1 million, a Save Libbey Bowl Committee has been formed under the auspices of the Ojai Valley Service Foundation. I have accepted the responsibility as President, and have a team of almost 50 community leaders behind me. The task ahead is challenging, but doable.

The timetable is short. We intend to start demolition of the existing structure immediately next June, and have the new Libbey Bowl in place in June 2011.  As the lead agency in the consortium behind this project, the City of Ojai requires that all $3 million be in place before work begins.

Why is Libbey Bowl important to Ojai?  Apart from its cultural and artistic benefits to the community, the Bowl is a significant generator of income for business and government here. Currently, activities in Libbey Bowl bring in about $3.5 million annually in the form of tourism and other spending. With a new Bowl that amount could increase to $6 million a year.

Libbey Bowl has been a community treasure for more than half a century. It has enriched our cultural lives and brought us countless other gifts. Isn’t it time we returned the favors?

OJAI, Oct. 14 – A new, broad-based citizens committee today launched a Valley-wide campaign to raise $1 million as the community’s contribution toward rebuilding historic landmark Libbey Bowl.  The “Save Libbey Bowl” committee, chaired by businessman Alan Rains, includes representatives from Ojai’s government, business, education and nonprofit sectors.

Two-thirds of the estimated $3-million cost of demolishing and rebuilding the Bowl has already been pledged by the City of Ojai and the Ojai Music Festival. The campaign to raise the remaining $1 million begins today and is expected to be complete by April 1, 2010. The Libbey Bowl reconstruction is planned for completion by June 2011.

“We are extremely gratified by the early response to our campaign,” said Rains, whose Rains Department Store has been a mainstay of the town’s commercial center for more than 75 years. “The community-based support is an indicator of how important residents of the Ojai Valley view this landmark.” The Ojai Service Foundation, a nonprofit civic organization, will serve as the clearing house for contributions, Rains said.

Libbey Bowl has served as the cultural fulcrum of Ojai since its construction in 1957, with an estimated 1,000 performances of plays, concerts and other civic events, including the Ojai Music Festival, staged there in the intervening 52 years.

In recent years, however, the Bowl has begun to show its age, with steady deterioration of the largely wooden structure to the point where safety issues became significant. Spot repairs have kept the bowl usable, but termites, wood rot and other decay have made its demolition and reconstruction a necessity..

“The new Libbey Bowl will retain most of the ambience and charm of the old one, but with greater function and convenience for audience and performers alike,” Rains said. Ojai architect David Bury has designed the new bowl and its adjuncts, including dressing rooms, audience seating and landscaping.

The Save Libbey Bowl committee includes more than 25 community leaders who have played major roles in other Ojai civic projects. Committee members include Alan Rains, Bill Burr, Jr, Pete Christl, Joyce West, Bill Burr Sr, Kate Barnhart, Barbara Bowman, Chris Drucker, Joan Kemper, Bill Shanbrom, Richard Weirick, Cathryn Krause, Mike Morris, Lois Rice, Esther Wachtell, Larry Wilde, Don Cluff, Husam Hishmeh, Steve McGillivray, Ron Polito, John Russell, Roger Wachtell and others.

“We urge everyone in Ojai to join this effort for a new and improved Libbey Bowl, which will serve our community in so many ways for generations to come,” said Rains. “It is a resource we cannot afford to lose.”