Dear City Council –
Thank you for prioritizing renovating The Guild into a high-quality performance venue at your most recent meeting.
I am in strong support of creating a top-notch live music venue at The Guild. I applaud the City Council’s vision in seeing the
great opportunity in creating a destination-worthy live-performance venue.
I am a member of SF Jazz, and love the opportunity to see international A-list performers at a live show. I have seen Branford
Marsalis, Van Morrison, The Preservation Hall Jazz band, Mary Stallings, Ahmad Jamal in intimate spaces in SF and in Mill Valley,
and there are very few places (maybe none) on the peninsula to host these A-listers. It requires an A-list venue, and the proposal
to create a New Guild would put that facility in the heart of our community. It would draw more customers to the downtown, make it
a destination, and be a source of civic pride.
In Mill Valley I loved going to the Sweetwater in downtown MV to see live high-quality live music in an upscale venue. And in the
City there are great spots on Fillmore, or at Slims, or at the SF Jazz center where I frequently went to experience great music in
an upscale venue. A great evening would be getting dinner at a local restaurant and then walking to the show, and inviting another
couple from a nearby town to come and share the evening with us. That is really lacking in the peninsula, which is a shame.
A renovated Guild would invigorate the neighborhood and bring people out for an upscale evening. It would be complement some of
the other establishments already existing or planning to be opened in that area.
I am a strong supporter since this would really enhance and inspire the community for years to come. Thank you,
-Chris Neil
Atherton
