On Friday night, attendees of an event at Greenwich Library were disappointed when the event, the opening night celebration of Ailey II, was canceled at the last minute.
The performance was free to attend, but the evening was a major annual fundraiser, sponsored jointly by the Trustees and Friends of Greenwich Library supporting the Library’s mission to provide high quality performing arts programming for free to the community. Donations were optional, ranging from $250 to $10,000.
Doors were to open at 6:30pm and the event included the Ailey II performance at 7:00pm and a celebratory cocktail party and grazing dinner catered by Marcia Selden at 8:15pm.
Many attendees waited for almost an hour for the doors to the auditorium to open, then were told to leave immediately due to a situation flagged by the Greenwich Fire Marshal.
On Saturday, library director Joe Williams; president of the board of trustees of Greenwich Library; Ian Murray, and chairman of the Friends of Greenwich Library, Hilary Martin Lea wrote to library guests and supporters saying the event had been canceled at the last minute following a determination by the Greenwich Fire Marshal that the permit that had been submitted was not acceptable.
“Importantly, the issues identified by the Fire Marshal pertained to inaccuracies in the permit regarding the description of the event and what facilities would be used. The safety and security of our patrons, guests and staff were never in jeopardy in any way at any time.”
Williams, Murray and Lea said they recognized and deeply regretted the inconvenience caused by the sudden cancellation and that if supporters wanted a refund for tickets/donations, they could contact Lisa Mandel in the Trustees office.
The community performance by the Ailey II company scheduled for Saturday, Oct 3 did take place as planned.