The meeting went for a few hours, and I'll do my best to summarize. There is no way for me to accurately convey all the details of what was said, and I'm sure those in attendance have differing opinions about what was important and what message was actually conveyed. I've tried to refrain from injecting my opinions on this topic so far, but I cannot keep that up. With that in mind, I'll try to separate this into two parts: (1) a "just the facts," where I try to describe simply what was said [if I am compelled to insert my opinion, it will be in brackets like this]; and (2) my impression of what it all means. Especially since I haven't been involved with the Center for very long, I welcome correction.
Also, I hesitate to air dirty laundry like this, but I feel like this is an important issue for the Go Community--particularly in NYC and the U.S--and the lack of transparency and basic communication is the cause of several of these problems anyway.
Just the Facts About 30 interested individuals (including members, former members, and regulars of the NYGC) met with two representatives from the Nihon Ki-in, only one of whom spoke. The Nihon Ki-in rep said that she was not happy to be meeting under the circumstances, but wanted to explain the Nihon Ki-in's decision to sell the building and also hear from us about ideas for the future of go in NYC. She said that the decision to sell the building had been made months ago, before she was appointed to her current position. According to the rep, the decision to sell the building was made because it would be expensive to renovate the building so the apartments could be rented.
(Background: for those who don't know, the building has two large apartments upstairs that would rent out for over $3,000/month. There were tenants there until about 18 months ago. The two lower floors and the basement are [were] dedicated to the Go Center. The ground floor has a large area, usually with about 15-20 go sets, but it can be expanded for tournaments. The ground floor also has a kitchen and large library of Go Books (mostly in Japanese and English, but also Korean and probably Chinese). The second floor has an apartment that was formerly used to house a visiting professional for months at a time while he or she gave lessons, etc. It has not been used for quite some time. The second floor also has several more go boards. The basement is less attractive, but also has go boards set up. There is also a great outdoor space.)
Anyhow, the amount of renovations required was unclear, though $200,000 was suggested [I doubt this figure and, at least, doubt that this figure was arrived at by any defensible method]. Someone suggested that, since the building was paid for and has equity, a loan could easily be taken against the building for the renovations, and the building could become profitable--especially if the second floor was converted for use by a tenant. The representative said that they were barred by Japanese law from taking out such a loan [while there may be some truth to this, I'm absolutely positive there is a legal way to do it]. Someone said that, back in 1995, the the Nihon Ki-in had taken responsibility for managing the apartments and then paid a third party to manage the property, and at some point someone failed to maintain it, resulting in the larger cost. At some point, it came to light that property taxes had never been paid.
Second, the representative said that the Nihon Ki-in opened the Go Center, and then "you failed." This opened a very long discussion about the history of the Center, the actions of various management and board members, and a host of other issues. Several people explained that the Center had been very successful in the past, and recently was doing well (especially considering that annual memberships were down because of the possibility of closure), but there was problems that arose because of poor management, due in part to how the Board was originally formed. Apparently, the board (which was only initially appointed by the Nihon Ki-in, and then self-selected, somehow, thereafer) was very, very insular. That is, the leadership did not solicit input from others, or even accept it when offered. This created several problems that prevented the Center from being successful. Others explained that many people stopped going to the Center because of a particular individual in the leadership (I won't go into details here).
The representative solicited ideas for how to proceed. Several were offered, including making the building profitable, selling the building and finding other space, giving the Center time to show that recent structural and leadership changes (including more "grass roots"/local participation) would allow the Center to flourish (note: the Board was changed and leadership replaced at the past Board meeting).
Someone asked, if the building were sold and the proceeds were not used to support another NY go center location, where the money would go. The representative said that it would be used to support go in the world [note: the rub here is that the building was donated for go in NYC. And, assuming the Nihon Ki-in takes it as their mission to spread go across the world, they could use the funds to pay their electric bill in Japan and say they used the funds to support go in the world.]
The "official" word right now is that there is no "official" word. The Nihon Ki-in will "get back to us" on whether or not they will continue supporting the NYGC and, if so, in what form.
Impressions
First, I am truly grateful for Iwamoto and the Nihon Ki-in's efforts in creating the Center. Also, neither the Nihon Ki-in nor any other person or entity are under any obligation to support Go in NYC. While there is a wrinkle here, because someone donated a building expressly for this purpose, I cannot blame the Nihon Ki-in for looking out for itself. But I can quibble with the manner in which they do so. If the Ki-in needs the money, fine (though the sale of a building is a rather short-sighted way of resolving monetary problems). If they truly believe there is little point in having a Go Center in NYC...well, it is their call. But they should just say so. It is clear that the NYGC has not lived up to its potential, due to a several issues. But it DOES have great potential going forward, and the issues that have plagued the Center are being resolved.
To be candid, this looked like an exercise in face-saving. The message clearly was "we gave you a chance, you screwed it up, and there is no reason to think that this is going to change." And I might agree, except for the last part. There is plenty of reason to believe that the Center can be successful going forward, as it has been in the past (sometimes, even in spite of poor leadership). But, I got the sense that the Ki-in came here to have the meeting so they could say they did so, and they could say they gave the NYGC community every opportunity to make changes and that the community failed to do so. I cannot say for sure whether selling the building is ultimately the best decision for the Nihon Ki-in--maybe it is--, but their actions indicate they are searching for excuses to close the Center and sell the building, and for a way to look good while doing it.
EDIT: Also, I think JF's post was spot on, and I hope the Nihon Ki-in continues to be involved somehow and continues to support Western go. I also hope they continue to be well disposed toward "us." So I certainly hesitate to criticize them in any way. Moreover, as I mentioned above, the Center's failings are due in large part (if not exclusively) to management here in NYC. Even if any blame falls on the Nihon Ki-in (and I'm not saying it does or doesn't), local management ostensibly didn't even attempt to resolve such issues. But that doesn't change my impression of the meeting.
As for the future of the Go Center/New York Go Club, I believe it is potentially bright under new leadership, which will allow greater participation and input from others. In fact, we'll find SOME sort of space, and I predict that it will become more successful that it has been in years. It is unclear whether the Nihon Ki-in will be a part of it.
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