El Rey Theater - Put Your Cleanup Where Your Mouth Is!

Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

El Rey Theater - Put Your Cleanup Where Your Mouth Is!

Posted by Ben Roberts on March 7, 2008 at 11:00am

For all those who have spoken about how sad it is that the Golden West burned and the El Rey and Launchpad have suffered damage, a chance to get in and do something about it, for the El Rey at least.

I received the following email from the City, specifically the Mayor's office, today.

Dear community volunteer:

The following volunteer opportunity might be of interest to you. Please share this list with your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, youth group, service club, etc.

If interested, please contact Pastor Paul Herzog at (505)301-7464.

El Rey Theatre, 620 Central S.W. The El Rey Theatre was affected by a fire last week. Volunteers are needed to help with clean-up so the theatre can resume operation. As many of you know the El Rey Theatre is on the Historical Register and we can help as a community to bring it back into operation.

Help needed on Saturday, March 8, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Clean-up will continue next week, beginning Monday, March 10, noon to 8:00 p.m., each day. Volunteers needed to help clean a thin layer of soot on walls, ceiling and carpet.

To sign up, please contact: Pastor Paul Herzog, 505-301-7464.

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Who says the Mayor doesn't care? Well, care enough to have one of his folks send out notifications anyway. :) But what about the Launchpad I wonder?

Anyhow, if you care too, go chip in. Or at the very least, post this info elsewhere, music groups, wherever, and get the word out.

Tags: clean, cleanup, community, damage, dirt, el, fire, rey, smoke, soot

Comment by Kitson Harvey on March 9, 2008 at 11:23pm: Please note that cleanup continues this week!

Comment by Tony on March 10, 2008 at 10:59am: The cleanup has been postponed. Paul and Kathy wanted to hold off so they can make sure to have a safe, efficient system in place for people kind enough to volunteer their time. - Thanks for the post Ben.

Comment by Tony on March 10, 2008 at 11:50am: We'll also be forwarding information about how the community can assist the other businesses affected by the Golden West fire as we receive information from them about what they need. Again, thanks for posting this and getting the word out.

Comment by Ben Roberts on March 10, 2008 at 2:10pm: No worries, and thanks for the followup, like I said I got my info by way of the City, so I have no real way to follow ongoing news. I'm just a middleman. :)

Maybe you know someone closer to the action who could put up a general post that people who are interested in keeping track of what's on at the El Rey?

Comment by Jim on March 10, 2008 at 3:09pm: Why are we being encouraged to clean up a business that didn't have the sense to have adequate insurance? There are probably a lot more important things for volunteers to do in ABQ that clean up a nightspot. Don't get me wrong, I hope the El Rey survives, but I know there are really more pressing priorities.

Comment by Sarah Anonymous on March 10, 2008 at 3:24pm: The El Rey/ GW are gone at least for now, and the Launchpad may be "up the creek" for awhile while this gets sorted out. Assuming that there is now a loss to the community, what is the best way to "correct" the problem?

Comment by Ben Roberts on March 10, 2008 at 4:17pm: Jim - I'm not particularly encouraging anyone. Except maybe for the attempt at humor in the post title.

I found a thread elsewhere in DCF about the Fire with over 30 replies on it with people talking about what a shame it was about the El Rey. At the same time I got an email from the city, included above. That's it. This blog post was a way to put the info out so I could link to it from the thread in case people who were expressing their desire to help wanted to get involved.

And I agree, there are items way ahead of the El Rey's welfare on my personal agenda, but to me that doesn't mean I shouldn't pass on the info to others who might care.