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The SOHO Museum Shop Reopens
By Alana Coons
The SOHO Museum Shop closure and reopening was an enormous undertaking. As shop manager I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge those whose hard work and dedication to SOHO made this possible.
In January I packed the shop over a three-week period. The bulk of the work was in disassembling all the displays and fixtures and hauling dozens of truckloads back and forth to the storage unit.
Since the upstairs area of the Museum Shop also holds the events and Whaley house complex storage in addition to the shop stock, all of that had to be removed, too. The packing was a tedious and laborious task, but nothing compared with the reopening process.
The renovation of the 1870's Verna house uncovered boarded up windows and the brighter rooms are a joy. This change in the room's configuration caused us to lose wall space as well as storage space. This presented a considerable challenge, as anyone who has visited us knows that our small shop carries more inventory than most shops twice the size.
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SOHO staff and volunteers hustled between their day-to-day work to get the stock moved back on site while shop displays were assembled and arranged late into the night for several evenings. One of the many advantages of having to move everything back was the rearrangement and reorganization of the stock and events storage rooms. Thanks to Bruce Coons, Jason Kurnow, and Maureen McLellan for tackling those areas.
These very long and late hours were put in after these dedicated people had already worked a full day at their regular jobs. Autumn Acker, a county ranger at Heritage Park, Preservation Action Committee member and past employee of the shop is our display guru. She is a naturally talented display artist and I hardly know what we would do without her help. Autumn's boyfriend, wildlife biologist Jason Kurnow, was really the extra hand we needed. Bonnie Poppe, long-time SOHO member and South Park advocate, loaned us her '69 Suburban for hauling and put together many of the displays for us. Bonnie is always there when we call for help and truly epitomizes the absolute dedication to this organization that makes SOHO one of the most successful preservation groups in the country. Thank you Bonnie, you are simply wonderful.
Many thanks go to Heather Sullivan. Heather is one of San Diego's most up and coming designers and is a member of our Modernism committee. She worked all week and into the late evening hours to make sure we could open the shop for the 4th of July weekend.
Maureen McLellan and Stephanie Gordin helped haul the many loads from storage. Maureen has been volunteering for SOHO since she was a teenager and is now one of our primary staff members; along with membership and wedding coordinator she assists in managing and running the Museum Shop. Mary Jones came in the night before opening to do her magic with wall hangings. Mary is an accomplished stencil and faux finisher and as an artist she has a great eye for hanging pieces in the shop. In an organization like SOHO, everyone wears a lot of hats. Our executive director also is in charge of Whaley House museum operations. We all wished for a camera to take a picture of him sweeping the front sidewalks of the shop in his suit and tie in between running to meetings and public speaking at events. Our SOHO photographer Sandé Lollis was there however for the photo documentation of the Verna House renovation and you can see some of these photos in this issue.
We all work very hard at SOHO and once again, I feel honored to be a part of this organization and to see the passion and concern felt by these friends and co-workers for its goals and accomplishments. There is nothing like working together to meet a deadline in the late hours of the night to bring a group together. My thanks to all of you who played a part in this great endeavor.
Photos by Sandé Lollis
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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
Court Sets Aside Port's Coronado Belt Line Lease
SOHO Takes Leadership Role
Disposable World
San Diego's Un-Recovered Past Obliterated & Forever Lost
The Event of the Season
People In Preservation Award Winners
Coronado Ordinance Scores a Victory for Local Historic Preservation
Designation of Coronado Railroad to be Appealed
SOHO's Dedication to Preservation
Eleven Most Endangered Historic Resources
Another Save!!!
New Resources in the California Room
Meet Summer Intern Stephanie Gordin
Chris Ownby
Whaley House Educational Series
ROMP!
A Home Run for Preservation
2004 Annual Membership Meeting
Annual Call for Board of Director Nominations
The Whaley House Interior Restoration
The Verna House Restoration
The SOHO Museum Shop Reopens
A Guide to Modern San Diego
San Diego Modernism Weekend
SOHO Museum Shop at the Whaley House
Strength in Numbers
Lost San Diego
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