Cooling was more expensive than heating the space, and we bought a large used industrial air-conditioner. You would see all the beams and structure. There is a cement floor with radiant heat underneath. Kim encircled the toilet with opaque plastic for modesty and eventually created a stage and seats and added some basic lights and sound. He kept the bones of the factory visible. Kim removed the rotted wood and cleared the building so that the only thing you could see when you entered was, near the far end, a toilet emerging from the floor.
When we closed on the building, the place looked terrible, so for what I thought was a bargain price, we got a building that had about 20,000 square feet of space. In 2001, we closed on the building, Kim acted as general contractor and turned what was, at the time of purchase, a printing company, into a hip venue. In 1999, Kim Clark and I sold our bed-and-breakfast in Union Pier and decided to use the proceeds to open a live performance venue. We had already produced a couple shows in Three Oaks, MI during an annual event called Art Attack, and sold out every show, bringing in artists you wouldn’t normally find in a small farm town. Our first show had groups known in the art scene of Chicago including people from 500 Clown, Local Infinities, Neofuturists, and David Sedaris. At the inn, one must be nice to strangers in the mornings. It’s uncivilized. I didn’t enjoy my weekends, as I found them more stressful than my regular job. We operated the business for two more years before I wanted out. Kim was the general contractor for two years of renovation. The seven-guest room B&B was gorgeous and charming, with jacuzzi tubs and fireplaces in the guest rooms and a lovely, shared dining room. When we first started dating, Kim owned a farmhouse in Union Pier, Michigan that he was turning into a bed-and-breakfast. His business partner wanted out before they opened, so I bought his half, with the agreement that I would only be a financial partner. At the time, I was president of a manufacturing company. For several years, he headed the writing programs nationally for Second City. He won a Midwest Emmy award. He was a candidate for the US Congress. He taught college, (DePaul University in Chicago) among other things.
My 22-year-long relationship with Kim Clark began in 1995. Kim had a larger-than-life personality. Kim saw the potential and acted as general contractor and visionary. There was no paved street in front of the building. When we bought the brick structure, there was a hole in the roof where rain and snow were rotting the wood on the second floor. The building was constructed in the late 1800s as part of the Warren Featherbone Factory where they made corsets using the cartilage of turkey feathers instead of whalebone, since it was more comfortable, lasted longer, and didn’t smell as bad. In 2001, my partner Kim Clark and I purchased a 20,000-foot former factory in the small town of Three Oaks, which is in Southwestern Michigan, with the intention of turning it into a live performance venue.
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