Kavelle Anglin-Christie
and Teino Evans, Staff Reporters
Revellers wave their rags at Bacchanal Fantasy, 'Fant-Asia', held at the Mas Camp Village, Oxford Road, on Friday, February 11. With the venue being sold, it may be one of the final flurry of rag-waving there. - File
VERY SOON there will be no active large outdoor entertainment venue in the capital.
It has been confirmed that Kingston's party central, the Mas Camp Village on Oxford Road in New Kingston, will be closed to parties at the end of the current Carnival season. As a result, the organisers of 'Yesterday', 'Bacchanal Jamaica', 'Heineken Startime' and 'Good Times', to name a few, will lose their
somewhat regular spot.
A director of Bacchanal Jamaica, Earl 'Fuzzy' Franklin, said they were thinking of purchasing Mas Camp at the end of the lease they currently have on the venue, but the price is now out of their reach.
"I really don't know. Somebody else is now trying to buy the place, but we have first option of buying. I won't disclose the money that was quoted, but the amount that they want for the place is about 100 times outside our budget," Franklin said, adding, "Y.P. Seaton and Associates are the actual physical owners of the land."
Efforts to contact a spokesperson there were unsuccessful.
The Mas Camp has been home to a number of entertainment events and Franklin says it was very good for that purpose.
"Surprisingly enough, the corner here (at Mas Camp) is ideal for what we do and if we lose the place we don't know what we will do in terms of finding another location that is fitting enough. The venue is unique; it's a good meeting point. Those who come from downtown are comfortable here and those who come from uptown are comfortable. You have places at Heroes Circle, downtown, but people might not want to go there.
PROBLEMATIC
'Every other location seems to be problematic. We are looking at Doncaster, down by the seaside. That is one of the areas that we are seriously looking at," Franklin said.
However, "If we can't resolve something by the time Carnival ends, then we will just have to find another home."
Franklin says it is being said that a car dealership company is in hot pursuit of the land and, if it is sold to them, it could mark the end of the Mas Camp
Village.
Yet another large Kingston venue, Cinema 2, closed its doors to shows since December. Lenford Salmon, booking agent for Cinema 2, says the last show there was 'Welcome to Jamrock' in mid-December. He says subsequent to that the New Kingston Citizens' Association threatened to take legal action against the owners of Cinema 2.
?They threatened all of us with legal action - the owners, Cable and Wireless Pension Fund, the property managers, WIHCON and us, the booking agents. They brought several things forward that we could not ignore. A major one was that the sound should not be heard more than 100 meters away and that is impossible to achieve,? Salmon said.
Salmon said they had been threatened with an injunction before 'Welcome to Jamrock'. However, they found no proof of it and therefore went forward with the show. ?By that time we had committed ourselves contractually to the show, so we could not pull out. But before that our lawyers investigated the threat of the injunction but we did not find proof of it in the Supreme Court,? he said.
Salmon says even recently Cinema 2 was to be the home of a gospel show. They, however, had to cancel the show because of the legal threat. ?It is a good thing that we had not signed a contract yet and made a deposit, so we had to let the people know. Now they are scrambling to find another venue,? he said.
On average, Cinema 2 hosted six shows annually and was able to host at least 10,000 patrons, with parking available at the adjoining Cinema 1.
?It was one of the few venues where people felt safe so it is a major loss. Sure there is Emancipation Park, but it isn?t meant to host major shows and there is the fear that people will destroy it. I hear of plans to renovate Heroes Circle to host shows there, but I certainly wouldn?t take a show there,? he said.
?Then there are places like Constant Spring Golf Club, which costs so much to convert for a show, and then King's House, which could cost up to $500, 000 each time you have something there,? he said in exploring the options.
With the closure of Cinema 2 and the possible closure of Mas Camp, promoters are already in a frenzy trying to find places to host their shows.
Roderick Reid, promoter of 'Yesterday' which since has been staged at Mas Camp since its 2002 inception, says ?finding places, in terms of suitability, is non-existent. Everywhere is close to some residential area or another?.
The show has gained a regular following of almost 4,000 people and Reid says the remaining venues simply won?t do. ?Some of the other available places such as Curphey Place and Weekendz would not be suitable for some of these events. Curphey Place, which is near to the Bustamante Hospital, can sometimes cause problems for them.. .And depending on the position of the speaker of the boxes, it is sometimes a nuisance to the people living in the surrounding areas. Then there is the parking, which sometimes attracts car thieves and other kinds of people who prey on the patrons,? he said.
Reid says in many cases the better entertainment venues are in outlying areas. ?The only thing that would be a problem is the accessibility, but like the Kingston Polo Club there is a lot of space... But moving shows like 'Yesterday' and 'Good Times' would pose a serious problem and raise concerns about the distance. So this whole issue of an proper entertainment venue has been a problem that we have had for a very long time,? he said.
Philmore McCarthy, promoter of 'Liqueur' has his hands full for the July staging of the event. So far he has been having a problem finding a suitable location for his second show.
?Last year we had it at Devon House and we had a good turnout, about 1, 800 people, and we didn?t have this problem because Devon House was willing to take us on. But this year they claim that the people living around the area took out an injunction against it,? he said.
McCarthy therefore tried his luck at the Constant Spring Gulf Club, but ?they informed me that they won?t be renting it out for any parties this summer. They did not tell me why, but I am not giving up just yet?.
?I really don?t want to go into the hills just yet, because it is our second year and we want to let people know what we are all about first, so I prefer to stay on the flat right now... Curphey Place is a good size and it caters to our audience, which is 18 - 25 years old. But next year we will be looking at Morgan?s Harbour or Temple Hall,? he said.
Frankie Campbell, chairman of the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA), says the issue of a permanent stage and the lack of proper outdoor entertainment venues is long-standing.
?It has been one of our serious problems and we find that the cost of renting one has gone up in the last couple of years ... Mas Camp was the leading entertainment venue in Kingston, so where do we go from here?? he asked. ?Going out of town is not practical because there will always be people who do not want to travel to the country every weekend for a show ... Plus most of the major shows are already staged elsewhere. There is 'Sumfest' in Montego Bay, the 'Jazz and Blues Festival' in Ocho Rios and 'Sunplash' in St. Ann, but we will see how that plays out.?
Campbell says the private sector or government needs to step in. ?If not, live entertainment will die ... JAVAA has raised the issue several times, and when Mrs. Simpson-Miller assumes office we plan to meet with her to see what she can do,? he said.
Campbell says the lack of venues has caused promoters and clubs to resort to illegal acts. ?Since the Mayor (Desmond McKenzie) started clamping down with the Noise Abatement Act last year it has been difficult. The places that you do find to hold a show are not licensed to do so in most cases and there is the problem of parking,? he said.
He says in years gone by, Carib and the Regal Theatre were the ideal spots to host shows. ?But all that is gone now. Carib wasn?t as it is now. It was one theatre and that?s where most of the shows used to be and there wasn?t a problem of space, because it could host up to 2, 500 people. But that doesn?t exist anymore, so these are some of the problems that we are faced with. Where will the shows be kept? Campbell asked.
