Space Craft still has a place to land.
The new owners of Rolling Bay hall have brought with them a passion for the arts — plus a bit of certainty and security to the current tenants of the popular venue.
Not long ago, the future of Rolling Bay Hall was surrounded with uncertainty. Despite the venue being on the market, the tenants at Rolling Bay were still allowed to continue their business. But for the businesses that called the performing arts venue their home, the looming prospect of a new owner brought with it the fear of losing their creative space. Whomever purchased the hall would be well within their legal right to evict the tenants before developing the space as a commercial property.
It would seem now, that the dark future so feared by the tenants of Rolling Bay Hall shall not come to pass. Those who fill the stage, and the seats, will still have a home for music and more.
The new ownership of Rolling Bay Hall, which consists of two couples and two individual investors, have decided that the event space will remain focused on providing a creative, all-ages space for Bainbridge’s performing arts community. The space is one of Kitsap County’s few all-ages venues.
For Morgan Terry, the peace of mind provided by the knowledge that her nonprofit, Spacecraft, will continue to have an event space in RBH, is priceless.
“Regardless of whether or not you’re actively spending mental power trying to problem-solve that issue, it’s stressful,” Terry said.
“There’s this underlying current of, ‘The building’s for sale and someone might buy it who is not as into us as Mark [Julian] was.’ It’s such a relief to have some stable ground to stand on,” she said.
The importance of the owners supporting the performing arts is not lost on Terry, who has brought boatloads of the Northwest’s most buzzworthy emergent musicians and bands to the venue.
“Anyone could’ve bought the building and just kicked all the arts organizations out and made it into a Subway or something. We were very lucky that the group that bought it did, and that they want to keep us there,” Terry said. “It’s huge for us.”
For the owners, it’s about much more than a simple investment. It’s about cultivating creativity and giving performance a home. Genevieve Phillips is one of the individual investors in the space.
“This was not a standard commercial real estate investment, in that the objective was to preserve and retain the existing building of Rolling Bay Hall specifically for performing arts,” Phillips said.
Felicia Hord, Rolling Bay Hall’s other individual investor, said she is ready to start drawing in an audience from all over Kitsap.
“We’re all very excited about making this not only a community feature but making it more than that; making it a destination and making a name for it outside of this small neighborhood.”
For Drew Fiscus, the preservation of the space was, “for the love of music and all performance art.”
Fiscus, along with his wife, Meredith, decided to invest in the hall thanks to a lifelong passion for music.
“I have been around or trying to learn music all my life, and this project continues that dream,” Fiscus said.
For Meredith Fiscus, it’s about bringing her passion for live music closer to home.
“I have seen a lot of live music in my life. I have taken road trips, slept in my car, waited in long lines at the wee hours of the morning to get tickets,” she recalled.
”I’m a little older now, I have my work and young children. I don’t get to see as much live music as I once did. I absolutely LOVE what Rolling Bay offers,” Fiscuss added. “To see amazing talent, close to home. I can be home and in bed by 10:30 and my kids are welcome to come along!
”I really believe in what Rolling Bay is providing to this community, across all generations. I’m so inspired and excited to be a part of this project,” she said.
