CalMAX Connections—Spring 2002

Ecology Action: ProMAX

Once again, the folks that network in reuse and recycle circles have created a great exchange of materials. The staff at ProMAX—the minimax sponsored by Santa Cruz County and managed by Ecology Action—was involved in a rather unusual reuse materials exchange.

The historic Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz underwent renovations that required the seats be replaced. The 880 theater seats, made out of cast iron frames with solid maple backs and arms with red upholstery, weighed almost 20 tons. The City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency contacted ProMAX to seek assistance in keeping this material out of the landfill.

The ProMAX staff sent e-mail notifications through the GreenYes listserve, the Architects Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility bulletin board, CalMAX, and other various reuse programs, as well as a number of theater group bulletin boards.

A reuse network contact forwarded the information to Karol Ehmen, executive director of the Quincy Historic Business District in Quincy, Illinois. Within two days of the notification, the business district contacted ProMAX. They wanted the seats for their local historic theater. Two weeks later, a crew and tractor-trailer from the Quincy Historic Business District arrived in Santa Cruz to remove the seats from the Del Mar Theater and transport them to the Quincy Theater in Illinois for reuse.

ProMAX succeeds because it operates as a local hub for reuse opportunities-both locally and nationally. Twenty tons of material destined for the landfill went from the city of Santa Cruz...all the way to a theater in Quincy, Illinois.

For additional information and pictures, visit the Quincy Historic Business District Web site.

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Last updated: August 01, 2008