By Autumn Labbé-Renault, Executive Director
In 2016, I convinced the board at Davis Media Access (DMA) that we needed a media lab. There was $225,000 in restricted capital funds sitting at the City. They couldn’t touch it, as it was earmarked for community media purposes. We’d never had bandwidth to consider its possible uses, until I proposed it be used to remodel the facility in order to build a media lab that could be used to further serve the community. So I pitched my idea to City Council and staff, and got the money—eight years ago. And then:
• Because the money was passed through the City, it was subject to prevailing wage, meaning that anyone who worked with DMA on this project would also be subject to significantly more paperwork and regulations
• As a result, we were declined many times over by architects unwilling to take that on for what was a relatively small commercial project. In 2018, then-board member Valerie Jones twisted the arm of Bruce Playle at Indigo Hammond+Playle Architects, and he was instrumental in moving the project forward (thank you, Bruce!)
• We then experienced a similar hiccup in hiring a contractor, but in the end signed a contract with Joe at Albertazzi Construction Inc. We were scheduled to start the remodel in April 2020, and you can guess how that went.
• The next couple of years were governed by the pandemic, and influenced by things like supply chain issues, contractor availability, and a 30 percent increase in the cost of materials. In 2022, we were able to regrade, resurface and otherwise make amendments to our parking lot as required by the City.
• By that time it was clear the fiscal impacts I’ve mentioned made it impossible to finish the project without further funding. In January of this year we refinanced our building with First Northern Bank and in May, the rest of the remodel finally commenced.
• If you’ve ever been through a remodel (I hadn’t), it’s a long, dirty process that causes all sorts of disruption and discomfort. Each visit to the building was an exercise in disorientation—walls had moved, hallways appeared, and rooms had been built. We worked under ceilings open to exposed ductwork, insulation and wiring for many weeks.
Finally, on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024 we cleared our final inspection with the City. We still have to deal with floors, install bike racks, order equipment and put studios back together, so our official open house won’t take place until sometime next spring, but we have come a long way. We continue with a suite of remote/hybrid services until things are fully back on line.
Navigating people’s perceptions and voices around all of this was one of the more challenging pieces of this project. Some felt bereft when they couldn’t access studios and services, while others didn’t necessarily understand concerns about access and liability. Others just felt it took too long, and I can’t argue with that, but the list of extenuating circumstances was real.
I’d be remiss in not thanking some key players: DMA’s board of directors, for support of my vision, and careful monitoring and feedback all along the way; Joe Albertazzi, who guided us seamlessly and cleared every inspection the first time; and Darrick Servis, DMA’s Director of Operations and the remodel liaison. Darrick did the heavy lifting on this project and diligently reported through all the delays and progress. And for the rest of our staff, the remodel became an obstacle to work around—and they did. I am grateful to them all.
Documenting community life through storytelling is a big part of what we do here at DMA, so it felt important to document our own process.