06/16/2015
SAVE MOJOS OGDEN facebook fan page. Please join/like.
HELP SAVE MOJOS OGDEN!
We are reaching out to you and our beloved Mojos Ogden family and friends to help save the music downtown. We have been serving the Ogden community for the past ten years, becoming the longest lasting, and now only, ALL-AGES LIVE MUSIC VENUE in the city. It has been an incredible decade with so many musicians, bands, and awesome folks of all ages who have graced our stage and made our venue something special. Despite our history, we currently face serious challenges and need your help to continue on.
We are facing a wave of gentrification at our current home. Due to the progress and improvements of the surrounding neighborhood, the owner of our building wants to sell the property, feeling "the time is right to strike". We do not blame him for realizing his investment of many decades and we are very appreciative of his generosity, especially for giving us such a great rate for the last ten years. This all began last summer, when the building next door sold for $350,000, with the ensuing improvements that followed. However, despite the money and the work invested, our neighbor’s building continues to sit empty. In truth, close to fifty percent of the East side of our block is still vacant. Knowing this, we continue to work out a fair market price, as we would love to be the ones to take over ownership of our current space before prices get any higher. Discussions between attorneys on both sides have lasted nine months. In that time, we sought the advice of realtors, consultants, possible investors, advisors, fundraisers, nonprofit professionals, and social media experts on how to proceed. The result of our discussions is Mojos Art & Music Academy (MAMA), a nonprofit academy dedicated to helping youth in the Ogden-area cultivate their talents for music and art through affordable lessons, mentoring, and scholarships to showcase their work to the community and the world. MAMA will take over and continue Mojos Music Venue, with Ron Atencio in his rightful place at the helm of the Mojos movement.
The board of directors for MAMA came up with a few options for the future: a) purchase the building that we all know and love so dearly and renovate the upstairs floor to include space for the newly-formed academy, b) secure a new lease with the current owner, despite an increase of four to five times the current price of rent, in order to give us more time to gather needed resources, c) move to a new location in the downtown Ogden-area and continue the Mojos legacy in a larger venue that could accommodate more fans, or d) retire and let Ron take all the wonderful memories with him as he rides off in to the sunset. We hope an outcry of support from our community family will help us decide what is best in making this difficult decision.
Naturally, we are working on the first two options until we must resort to moving or retiring. The negotiations are not yet complete, but are quickly drawing to a close. In order to continue providing Ogden with a space for music lovers of all ages to enjoy, we need to raise funds! Though the amounts vary, we could make the down payment on the building and seek an investor to help us secure the building permanently, make our first lease payment, or move Mojos and MAMA to a new location. This decision will be made July 1st, when our current lease agreement expires.
No matter the outcome of our fundraising campaign, we will be closing for July and maybe into August to focus on the goal of settling our situation. In the meantime, we are liquidating SPIKES Retail Store next door to open up space and help Ron shed much of his and his mother’s collections and treasures for upcoming fundraisers to help achieve our goal. Those fundraisers will be announced later this month.
We are reaching out to our community, which we have served and loved, doing so many fundraisers for every cause under the sun, for support. Most especially, we have loved helping the families of those we have lost due to illness or accident. We have been happy to do that and will continue to help those individuals or causes in need, but need your help to continue to be there for our community, family, and friends.
Here are a few different ways you can help:
• Contribute as small or large as you can to our GoFundMe campaign. Every bit helps us to reach the goal of purchasing our building and continuing the Mojos legacy right where it began a decade ago.
• Spread the word by posting, sharing and inviting your friends to this event page and/or the GoFundMe link on Facebook. Help us get the word out far and wide!
• Send our way any professionals or those who have expertise in real estate, law, or negotiations who share in our vision for the movement and have the means to help become a strong part of the next phase of Mojos in Ogden.
• If you are a resident of Ogden City, please contact Mayor Mike Caldwell by phone at (801) 629-8111, on Twitter with , or via email. Let him know that you don’t want to see Mojos disappear from Ogden forever and that we need his help and support!
• If you see or know of any new location that would be perfect for us to relocate at a very good price, please let us know! We hope that someone will give us a good rate as a nonprofit organization. Mojos Music Venue will be turned over as a donation to the Mojos Art & Music Academy by Ron Atencio. He has truly given the last decade of establishing Mojos to the community and will run the Venue and Academy until we get someone to help in management.
• We are open to any ideas we may not have thought of and maybe you can share with us.
We love our Mojos kids and family. You have been the essence of the magic and the movement for music and art for a decade. It truly is all about you and the music. It always has been and always will be. Though it has been a challenge to face this and consider the worst case scenario, we have come to terms with whatever direction we may have to take, holding on to hope. Through your donations and support, we can move forward with the dream of having a quality space for art, music, and education for the future. The support of the community allows us to negotiate in strength, making wise decisions for a smooth transition to continue our service to the artists and youth of Ogden.
It is very hard for the Mojos team to announce this news and to ask for help. The board of directors for MAMA appreciates your help and all we have done together with Mojos Music Venue, excited for the next decade and beyond. We hope we can get as much support from our community as possible. For us, it will be an indicator of the vision we think is worth fighting for.
Thanks again for your amazing support and friendships. It has been a phenomenal decade of music, magic, and growth for Ogden artists and musicians. We hope and pray it continues. Thanks in advance for anything you can send our way, including good thoughts, spreading the word, and especially prayers and good vibes.
Sincerely,
Ron J Atencio
President
Mojos Art & Music Academy
Mojos Music Venue
Mojos Ogden
And from the entire board of Mojos Art & Music Academy:
Casey Romney
Colby Peterson
Bill Keffeler
Eric Bennick
Jerome Johnson
