SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — Tuesday night, the Shafter City Council gave five thumbs up to the city to look into the possibility of using the defunct Shafter MCCF for Harvest Festival activities at the end of October.
- Tuesday night was a step towards a new life for the Shafter Modified Community Correctional facility, as the city was given the green light to look into using it as a haunted house as part of the Shafter Harvest Festival hosted by the Shafter Lions Club.
- While the item on the agenda was labeled as a discussion, there wasn't much of one as all members of the council seemed on board with the idea of giving the defunct facility a new lease on life.
- During the meeting, it was made clear that the City will not be renting out the facility in a full capacity and the 'go-ahead' for the Harvest Festival activities is more of a trial-run capacity. The Shafter Harvest Festival will kick off on October 30.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
This time of year is rife with fall cheer, and as Halloween nears, haunted house operators are preparing for some frightful fun. Now, if you had to pick a prime location for a haunted house, well, an old prison would probably be near the top of that list.
I'm Sam Hoyle, your Shafter neighborhood reporter, at Tuesday night's Shafter City Council meeting, the city council and city staff entered into a discussion on whether or not the Shafter Modified Community Correctional facility, which has been vacant since late 2020, should be opened up for a community event, namely a haunted house attached to the Shafter Harvest Festival hosted by the Shafter Lions Club.
"Currently doing an RFQ - request for qualifications for a consulting firm to conduct a feasibility study of thee former site is for recreational activities whether it's indoor soccer, pickleball or even talk about escape rooms or haunted houses, and I think we're presented with a unique opportunity right now that there's a group of organizations, local organizations interested in utilizing the facility," said City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez.
There wasn't much discussion, as the council agreed pretty readily to give the city a license to test using the MCCF site for a community event.
"I think we owe it to ourselves to use it for something better than once was before," said Mayor Chad Givens.
"I agree, I think it's a great opportunity. If anything, I think other ideas may come out of it," said Council Member Gustavo Olvera.
So what's the trial run going to be?
According to the report attached to Tuesday night's agenda, the city has received two permit requests from community organizations to host a haunted house at the MCCF during the Shafter Harvest Festival hosted by the Lions Club at the end of October.
While Tuesday night's discussion was a step towards a new life for the MCCF, that doesn't mean the community can rent out the facility, as the upcoming use of the facility will be a trial run.
"We've got to ensure there are policies in place for how that rental occurs this is going to be a one-time deal to benefit the city to figure out what we're going to do in the future," said City Attorney Marco Martinez.
According to the report attached to the city council agenda, the city has two permit requests from event organizers to use the defunct MCCF site for harvest festival activities, namely a haunted house.
The Harvest Festival will kick off on October 30th.
In Shafter, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
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