General : by Daniel Blue

DB: A Place to Gather

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Recently, I joined a group of extremely spiritual people for a Sunday morning get together. This soulful man jumped up on the mic during song time and began to exclaim his place of birth. “I was boooooorn, by the river, you know my mama had me in a tent….and just, like that godd@*# river, baby…I been running ever since.” I was nearly brought to tears. Ok, I was brought to tears, right in the middle of a group of strangers a clapping and connecting to their wacky ideas of God, I sat in my grey padded chair and had a good little cry. For some strange reason the story in that man’s song hit me dead in the eye-leak button, and the reason why is as complicated as the metaphysical sermon that soon followed. But I will only bore you with the one.

Like the river in the song and the river that subsequently came out of my nose, we my friends, as a people, are running from something. Be it debt or hunger or some un-evolved primal need for propulsion we seem to cleverly bob and weave our way from our last meeting, to the next product, to the next bit of entertainment, to the next consumable imbibed, to the next rush hour, to home, to the next project, to the next snooze button. America is a go. Running errands, running for governor, running free, running around like chickens with our heads cut off, running wild, running at the mouth…

The proof of this is in our social past. Where is the community that built the 17 odd ballrooms that grace the hidden second stories scattered throughout this city? Where is the public walking our streets that justified such enormous sidewalks. Where are the fraternities, the annexes, the grange halls, the armories? Where did the social platform that included all ages, races and religions disappear too?

When I bring up the problem of there being no social forum to get to know people, I am always pointed either to the bar or to the church. However, drunk or perplexed, neither are inclusive of all ages or types of people in this city. We have become a culture disconnected. We have become a culture of affinities. As long as you look, think and act my age style and preference, I may be willing to connect to you… and miss out on the rest of the world. Why are we running away from each other?

I say Tacoma needs a community center worthy of the name. It should have all sorts of ways to express ourselves and enjoy ourselves TOGETHER. There could be a stage, a lounge, a hall, a racquetball court….ok.. if its not obvious I’m talking about the old Elks on 7th and Broadway. There was an old falcon that lived in the box seats and would fly all around the ballroom like the ghost of some forlorn socialite seeking the gala of Christmas past. Before it was sealed by Williams and Dane…well actually before that, when Zimmerman still wanted it to rot into the ground, I spent a night or two in the old place exploring and poking about with a headlamp and a bottle of port. This was a building made for the explicit purpose of gathering. It was not a church, nor a bar in the exclusive sense (although the lounge is very roomy and very gangster), but it seemed you could have both happening in there at the same time. This was a building created for human expression and engagement. It was a building imbibed with a lust for connection to ones contemporaries. I really don’t know anything about the Elks, who knows how inclusive they are in their little club, but there was a pool and a sauna, a kitchen and a theater and some racquetball courts, and that enormous ball room. It seemed to me that they wanted everyone, and that everyone would come if they were welcomed.

The old Elks seems to be spoken for at this point, but can we please conceive a forum for live community engagement? Can there be a place in this city to just come and be with people? I know its a massive pipe dream but for real, how else are we going to ever have the chance to talk offline? I like you people, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen 90% of your faces. If this is all Tacoma has to offer me in the way of human connection with people outside of my coffee affinity, then we are going to be extinct, because power lies in the numbers. Soon, the world (and Tacoma) will be run by the drunk and religious cause they are the only ones who can seem to have a meaningful face to face conversations long enough to trust one another.

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