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Blue Devils celebrate diamond anniversary with 18th gold
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From the desk of...
August 25, 2017
925.672.0500
JAY BEDECARRÉ Concord Pioneer
LAURA HOFFMEISTER
MAYOR
City, Coast Guard looking at housing options again
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) owns 58 acres along Olivera Road containing 328 multi-family units that were formerly used for military personnel. The housing was constructed in two parts: the 1950s era Quinault Village of 41 duplexes that were not built to existing code and have asbestos and lead based paint and the 1980s Victory Village with 82 triplexes not built to current code and main utilities under the units rather than in the street. Salvage or reuse of the existing buildings is not feasible, given that the buildings and utilities would need to be brought up to current construction codes. In 2014, the USGC indicated the housing was no longer needed. They showed willingness to negotiate a sale with the city. The city would select a development partner, and the developer would loan the city the land payment fee. The benefit to the city and its partner is an agreement on the development and value of the property, allowing coordinated planning with the other base reuse specific planning that is underway. This process can avoid the bidding auction process that could result in a sale at an inflated price, which could lead to the purchaser’s development ideas being beyond a reasonable level and less flexibility to achieve the city’s goals for the property. The city obtained four firms qualifications as a development partner: Bridge Housing, DeNova Homes/ROEM, Integral Housing /EAH Housing and USA Properties/Foundation for Affordable Housing/Eden Housing. The USCG then put the process on hold, and the City Council never reviewed the options. In mid-May 2017, the Coast Guard decided they were ready to proceed with disposing of the property. The Housing and Economic Development Committee recently met and is recommending that the city proceed with a negotiated sale with one of the four development partners. The City Council will consider it at a September public meeting. Meanwhile, the city recently completed a new tot lot at Meadow Homes Park, with an area for 2- to 5-year-olds and 5to 12-year-olds. This park was one of the last parks to receive a
See Mayor, page 6
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Community . . . . . . . . . . .2 From the desk of . . . . . .6 School News . . . . . . . .16
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Performing Arts . . . . . .12
Kurtis Kenobbie photo courtesy The Blue Devils
The Blue Devils won their 18th DCI World Class Championship this month before a record crowd of 23,342 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The BD brass section of over 70 musicians performed the middle tune in the award-winning Metamorph program entitled “Everything Must Change.”
The Blue Devils, Concord’s globe-trotting drum corps ambassadors, used their 60th anniversary season to develop a 12-minute performance entitled Metamorph using music, movement, visual effects and uniforms to look back at their glorious past, their present and to the future. Blue Devils CEO Justin Heimbecker says Metamorph “was easy to enjoy” and received one of the best audience receptions of any of their programs in the past 15 years. Drum Corps International judges must agree, as the Blue Devils were undefeated this season while competing in 23 cities in 17 states – capped by the three-day DCI World Class Championships in Indianapolis earlier this month. The Blue Devils diamond anniversary ended with their 18th world championship before a record crowd of
See Blue Devils, page 4
De La Salle fetes Grammy-winning alumnus Burk JAY BEDECARRÉ Concord Pioneer
John Burk turned down an invitation to play football at De La Salle High when a rookie head coach saw the Class of 1980 junior in the school weight room. Looking back years later Burk wondered what he may have learned from playing for that new coach who went to become a legend, Bob Ladouceur. Burk turned down the invite because he was in a band, had a job and a girlfriend at Carondelet. He graduated from DLS, went to college and married the girl, Carla Ruiz. And he used his band experience as the first step towards becoming the 2017 De La Salle Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award winner for his music industry career that now finds the Grammy-winning producer as president of Concord Records and a National Trustee of the Recording Academy/Grammy Organization. After college Burk enrolled in the record engineering and production program at Los Medanos College and ran his own independent label. LMC director Frank Dorritie suggested he apply for a job at Concord Jazz, a local jazz label. Concord Jazz was founded in 1973 by jazz aficionado Carl Jefferson, the local Lincoln-Mercury car dealer who started the Concord Summer Festival in 1969 at what is now Dave Brubeck Park on Concord Blvd. Jazz musicians in the festival told Jefferson that they needed a current album in order to get bookings. Jefferson and his festival also provided the impetus for the construction of the Concord Pavilion, which opened in 1975 as “The House that Jazz Built.” Burk was interviewed by Jefferson in the label’s headquarters in a former fish market at the
east end of Jefferson Motors. The two-hour “interview” entailed Jefferson doing 95% of the talking, including asking Burk if “he’d ever been in jail.” Later than evening, Jefferson called and offered Burk a job as staff producer. The downside was that he would make less than at his part-time Safeway job! On his first day Burk was told to type artist contracts for several upcoming albums. The only rub was that he didn’t know how to type. Colleague Elizabeth Bell came over and showed him the typewriter’s home keys and thus began his music industry career. Two years later he was promoted to vice president of the label. With less than a dozen people in the entire company, Burk learned every minute aspect of the recording business. Jefferson passed away in
1995. Burk was with him until the end, tying up loose ends and positioning for the future without the label’s founder, which included expanding the roster beyond jazz. To this day, Burk says he tries to follow Jefferson’s philosophy “to produce super high-quality music. He was an audiophile and very tuned into quality, both in performance and sonic quality.” By that time of his death Jefferson had sold the company but only after it was agreed he and Burk and the staff would continue running things. As the recording industry had its ebbs and flows so did Concord Jazz’ fortunes. A couple of years after purchasing the company, Concord’s new owners went into bankruptcy. Burk and his 40 coworkers said they would “stick it out to the end.”
See Burk, page 2
Photo courtesy Concord Music
De La Salle High School’s 2017 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year John Burk (left) celebrated with saxophone player Dave Koz (center) and Burk’s album co-producer Markus Miller after the release of Koz’s first Concord Jazz album, “Hello Tomorrow.” The Grammy-nominated album reached No. 1 on the Billboard jazz charts. Burk, who had a band in high school and college, played guitar on the album.
Masonic Temple ready for another chapter of Concord’s history Historical Society remodels building into new museum and event center CAROL LONGSHORE Special to the Pioneer
Tamara Steiner/Concord Pioneer
Built in 1928 and moved to its present site next to the Galindo Gardens in 2013, the renovated Masonic Temple opened last month as the Concord Historical Society museum and event center. CHS fundraising is currently underway for outside renovations and to add a kitchen.
The Concord Historical Society has transformed the Masonic Temple into the Concord Museum and Event Center. No taxpayer money was used to achieve this goal, which was celebrated with a community ice cream social earlier this summer. As the story goes, Melvina Strickland Durham offered the newly formed Concord Masons
$700 to build a temple for Lodge 448 in 1926. Oakland architects Slocombe & Tuttle designed the building, which was built by local contractor Laurence V. Perry for $31,550. The Masonic Temple was completed and occupied in 1928. The design, reflecting the Spanish Colonial Revival style, made an elegant statement about Concord as an emerging community. From 1928 through the early 1990s, the Concord Masonic Temple served a number of organizations, including Masonic youth groups, Eastern Star,
See Masonic, page 3