As you know, we started our petition after learning from theater staff that the Guild's future might be in jeopardy. We learned this in mid-Sept., 2016, not having seen or heard about the Jan. 2016 article in the Menlo Park Almanac newspaper, which revealed that the Guild was “…listed as available for long-term lease and redeveloped as offices or a mixed-use building.” We started our petition in late Sept. with 99 signers at two Sundays of our local Farmers' Market. The owner subsequently told us that he would entertain an offer to buy - and of course our hope was that the buyer would remodel our 91-year old theater and continue to offer the same type of films: art, indie, and foreign. We now have 4030 signers (here on change.org and on a print petition we circulate usually at one evening weekend showing at the theater through June, and some periodic visits this July. We have been trying to get support from the City and from "angel investors to save the theater. It has been to our advantage that the owner has not found a new leasee, redeveloped the property for a new use, or sold the property, so that we have been able to raise public interest and support the Guild's future. But the latest development, and possibly the death knell for the Guild, is that a notice appeared at the theater on June 8, posted not by the City of Menlo Park, but by an undisclosed party, with the following text: “Notice of Access Inspection re CA Civil Code Sec. 55.53 amended by SB269 (Chapter 13, status in 2016) completed by the Certified Access Specialist Bassam Altwal, Cert # 109 - giving notice that you* have a 120 grace period during which you are not liable for any violations of the code. “ The initial notice was later replaced by a second notice, confirming that an inspection had taken place on June 8, reading, in part: “This certification does not imply that this facility meets design and construction requirements for accessibility for individuals with disabilities.” * you = the owner To our knowledge, the owner has not responded to this notice by making any modifications to the restrooms, which we assume are the major accessibility issue, and time is quickly running out on the 120 day deadline, if we count 120 calendar days (not business days, Mon. - Fri. from the notice), by Oct. 5. We emailed the owner, whom we have updated about our petition periodically , a month after the notice was posted - to give him time to explore options, - asking him about his intended response to the notice and possible/likely litigation if he doesn't make handicapped access modifications by the deadline. His only comment was, “I am aware of this.” We spoke with the City, asking if construction permits had been applied for, or issued, and I was told they hadn't. The city staff person told us that the theater, despite it age, is not exempt from ADA regulations. We have seen no construction activity at the theater as recently as last Friday. It may be that the owner has gotten an extension on the deadline, or that the deadline is 120 work days (Mon. - Fri.) from the notices and he is still has time to weigh his options. It may be that he has a pending sale of the property, but we don't know if a building under notice can be sold before the required modifications are made, or if the notice would be carried over to the new buyer, with an adjusted deadline. It may be that the owner has decided (as he did with the Park theater down the street in Menlo Park from the Guild, which he also owned) that he will close the theater, tear down the building, and look for a developer or investor to buy the lot. Of course what he decides to do is his own decision, and he may not be able to comment on what might be a pending lawsuit, but we want our 4030 petition signers (combined # online and our print petition) to be informed. How can you help? If you're a resident any nearby CA city, or have signed either petition as a former resident who values the Guild Theater as part of your personal history, and as a part of Menlo Park's history - and future - please email the City Council of Menlo Park (city.council@menlopark.org), to urge them to find some way to help save the Guild - perhaps with development funds or locating an investor who wants to keep a neighborhood theater in our town. Or if you have connections with Peninsula tech entrepreneurs, such as Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park, or nearby Google headquarters, or philanthropists who might do as David W. Packard did in setting up a foundation supporting the Palo Alto Stanford Theater - a project on a far grander scale than our humble Guild - please contact them to ask for their help. We've been trying to find an "angel investor" or group to become involved, since our petition was started - one such group saved another Menlo Park treasure, Kepler's Bookstore. We're hoping to have articles in our local newspapers soon about this new development, so please write letters of support your local paper on the Peninsula (or the SF Chronicle, which did a 2-page article you may have seen (http://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Menlo-Park-woman-scrambles-to-shield-cinema-from-10874127.php) . We're doing what we can rescue the Guild, but time may be running out. You can also email us at saveguildtheater@yahoo.com with your suggestions, as many of you have already done. It may not be too late to SAVE THE GUILD.