Cactus Cafe to close in August (UT-Austin)

[sonias]

AAS Austin Music Source blog 1/30/10
Cactus Cafe to close in August

Austin’s greatest listening room for three decades, which has spawned the careers of Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, David Garza, Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves and many, many more, is being closed in August, according to an announcement on the University of Texas web site.

The action took place at the Texas Union Board of Directors’ first meeting of the spring semester, according to the announcement.

“It’s unthinkable,” says Garza. “I’m in shock. I can’t imagine Austin without the Cactus. Now I know how everybody felt when we lost the Armadillo and Liberty Lunch.”

Ray Wylie Hubbard was also stunned at the news, which tore through the Austin music community Saturday afternoon. “This is some of the most depressing news I’ve heard in awhile. The Cactus really helped validate me and many more people as a songwriter.”

“The decision to close the Cactus Cafe and the Informal Classes program was made to minimize the impact of budgetary reductions on students and to protect student core services,” the statement read. “President William Powers Jr. recently asked all university departments to prepare plans that prioritize reductions.” The release said Cactus and Informal Classes employees would be reassigned. It’s impossible to think of Cactus manager Griff Luneburg, who’s been in charge there for 27 years, in any other job.

Damn!! I saw many a fine show at the Cactus. :cry::cry::cry:

Sonia

[texastoast]

1. Well, as the freepers say,

"Happy people don't need art."


:eyes:

[sonias]

2. They might have gotten a break

Lowdown on Higher Ed blog @ AAS 2/2/10
Cactus Cafe could find new home at alumni center

The Ex-Students’ Association of the University of Texas said today that it might be able to provide a new home for the Cactus Cafe, an iconic music venue and bar in the student union that officials plan to close in August.

Here’s the announcement posted by the association, also known as the Texas Exes, on its Web site:

The storied Cactus Cafe could be finding a new home on the University of Texas campus — the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center.

Texas Exes CEO and executive director Jim Boon spoke with UT president Bill Powers Tuesday about the idea of incorporating the Cactus Cafe into a planned building expansion set for 2011.

University officials announced over the weekend that the Texas Union would be closing the Cactus Cafe in August due to budget cuts. Informal Classes, too, are set to end.

“We understand the financial pressure the University is under and recognize that it needs to be focused on delivering services to students,” Boon said. “As keepers of the history and traditions of the University, we are always sensitive to experiences that touch students’ lives and create memories for alumni.”

I hope this does move forward. It would be a good mix. Closer to the stadium would definitely make it more profitable! Not to mention improve the parking situation for nighttime concerts.

Save the Cactus Cafe!
:applause::applause::applause:

Sonia

[texastoast]

6. That's good news

I hope it goes through. That sounds like a much better place to be.

[mbperrin]

3. Yes, apparently the pennies the system gets from the PUF just

isn't enough.

Lord knows they've made all the right moves in the past....no, wait!

[MrsBrady]

4. this affects touring artists across the country, not just Austin n/t

[sonias]

5. Burned Orange

Texas Tribune 2/3/10
Burned Orange

In a cultural Mecca like Austin, it’s hardly a surprise that the proposed closing of the renowned Cactus Café on the University of Texas at Austin campus — an icon to many locals, but a bar catering largely to non-students in the view of some cost-cutting administrators — would cause an uproar.

“I went to the Cactus Café the night before my oral exams” for a doctorate from UT, said Michael Scully, who echoed many others in imploring UT-Austin President Bill Powers to allow newly offered private fundraising efforts to save the Cactus, which is run by the student union. “I’ve gone to 125 shows there. I would have been happy all these years to have donated to Cactus Café. I didn’t realize I could, or that it was necessary. I just went there to see a show and get my three fingers of whiskey.”

But the anguish at a town hall meeting in a packed auditorium on the state’s flagship campus Tuesday ran deeper than a squabble over one music venue. The Cactus, along with informal classes for community members, is slated to be cut to help the university trim the state-financed portion of its revenues by 5 percent. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus recently demanded such plans from all state agencies, every university and community college included. And such fights will play out all over Texas this year and next — particularly if the budget knife goes much deeper or tuition rises much higher, as the state grinds through its budget next legislative session. State House Higher Education Committee Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, recently made rounds telling college presidents to start “storing up nuts for the winter” while simultaneously advising against more than minimal tuition hikes on already financially distressed Texas families.

At Tuesday’s town hall, most speakers focused on the threatened cultural treasure, but others hammered away at President Powers on more fundamental shifts in the ever-more-expensive higher education business model. “I have students coming to me during my office hours telling me they can’t afford their textbooks,” said Snehal Shingavi, an assistant professor of English. “For years, the amount the state pays gets smaller and smaller and the amount the students pay gets larger and larger. In tough times, we should stand for the idea that public education is public — and the burden shouldn’t fall on families facing tougher economic times than the University of Texas.”

They're canceling informal classes as well! Oh we couldn't consider cutting the subsidy to college football, no... that won't happen. I'm sure they won't be any cuts in that department! :eyes:

Sonia

[hobbit709]

7. See the Kelso column today?

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/come-on-mack-save-austin-s-music-scene-213556.html

And UT claims the $122K will be used for raises. That should be what, about $5 per UT employee.

[sonias]

8. Come on, Mack - yeah right

Come on, Mack: Save Austin's music scene and fund the Cactus Cafe
(snip)
Closing down the Cactus Cafe and ending UT's informal classes program, another item that is getting the ax because it caters to nonstudents, will save the university a whopping $122,000 a year .

Wow. A whole $122,000 — that's three English professors and a couple of blocking dummies for the football team.

The Cactus Cafe really should be preserved. By Thursday, a Facebook organization called Save the Cactus Cafe had 18,863 members , or almost a fifth of a UT home game sellout crowd. There's been talk of moving the club over to the alumni center . Why not leave it where it is and let Mack Brown fund it? The guy's got a salary of $5.1 million , for gosh sakes. What's $122,000 a year to the dude? He could cover that easily enough with a shoe contract — for one shoe. It wouldn't even have to be a contract for the whole pair, and he could fund the Cactus Cafe.

Mack will give up $122,000 of his salary over his dead body. :eyes:

Sonia