A Strand deferred: city’s MLK event at Wang

Howard Manly

In another sign that the Strand Theater is not ready for prime-time, the city’s two-day Martin Luther King Jr. event will be held at the Wang Center and Faneuil Hall,

Located in Dorchester’s Upham’s Corner, the rundown Strand Theater has been the focus of Mayor Thomas Menino’s plan to not only revitalize the sagging neighborhood but also return the theater to its past glory.

The decision to hold the 23rd annual MLK Day event, featuring Rev. Joseph Lowery and Patti Austin, reverses Mayor Menino’s publicly stated plans to hold the event at the Strand, telling a reporter that he wanted to move the Jan. 15 event from Symphony Hall.

“I want people to start thinking about the Strand as a prominent place,” Menino said in a published report. “Because that is what it is.”

It’s unclear whether the abrupt resignation of Susan Hartnett, the director of the city’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events and proponent of the Strand, had any major role in the switch in location.

What is clear is that significant number of the mayor’s MLK Day Planning Committee did not want the event at the Strand. Last month, Brooke Woodson, the committee chairman, explained that the committee’s problems with the Strand were not a slap but rather a clash between the goals of the MLK day and Menino’s longstanding commitment to the Strand.

“We are very pro-Strand,” Woodson told the Banner. “The city is planning to have Black History Month events there. But the MLK event has been a way to get people from the community to go to one of the downtown venues, enjoy a free event and pay homage to Dr. King.”

The Strand Theater has been beset by serious problems. The city owns the building and took over day-to-day operations last year after a financial mismanagement scandal. Even a recent series of “Urban Nutcracker” performances was plagued with power outages, clueless ushers and parking nightmares. At least ten cars were supposedly towed from a nearby, designated parking lot, several theatergoers said.

Woodson was very clear last month and hinted that his committee would prevail and have the MLK event at a downtown venue. “…We are seeing what can be done to keep the event at one of the downtown locations. We plan to work through any internal discussions about this.”

On Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. , the Wang Center hosts “A Gift of Song” with songwriter and vocalist Patti Austin and jazz recording artist Andre Ward. On Jan. 16, civil rights legend Rev. Joseph Lowery speaks at noon at Faneuil Hall.