Grande Photo and Film Tour
With permission from the CHMB Church, FOG members coordinated a photo tour of the Grande in the month of October 2008. Since our last inspection in April 2008, zero positive effort has been expended on the building. The weather continues to take a devastating toll on the structure and scrappers and souvenir hunters continue to walk off with parts of the building. I still hold hope that the Church will sign off on the Historic Nomination regardless of their future plans.
Joining our group for this trip were filmmaker Tony D’Annunzio whose film on the Grande “Louder than Love” is fast coming together and New Yorker Rhona Bitner a photographer who is undertaking an ambitious project of photographing iconic stages from all across America. We also were privileged to have with us the legendary rock photographer Tom Weschler. Tom brought his original vintage Nikon that he used to take his classic photos of Cream and the Who from his special vantage point on the dance floor of the Grande. This trio’s interest in documenting the building only serves to further underscore its significance.
(Originally posted November 2008)