Buena Park Still Searching for Site for Cultural Center Complex

Almost six years after the idea was first proposed by the city’s Fine Arts Commission, there is still no cultural center complex in Buena Park.

Although the city decided in 1983 to try to build a home for its community theater and choral groups and for other arts events, it is still searching for a place to house the complex. A design for the center has yet to be completed, but city officials say it will include a theater, rooms for art exhibits and storage rooms for equipment.

Carol Young, president of the Fine Arts Commission, said the city became conscious of a need for an arts facility as far back as 10 years ago. “We had been urging the City Council to do something so that we could have a permanent facility,” Young said.

The city has been presenting theater productions and other events at Sullivan Elementary School, which no longer holds classes, and is in the process of buying the property from the Buena Park School District for residential and commercial development. The developer, Ponderosa Homes of Irvine, agreed to set aside about 1 1/2 acres on the site for a cultural center, but the city decided that more space is needed for a facility expected to seat 400 to 500.

So the city is still faced with the problem of finding a suitable site, although it has some sites under consideration, including the Buena Park Civic Center, the Community Recreation Center and a parcel of land north of Melrose Street between Western Avenue and Beach Boulevard.

Pat Brown, the city’s director of planning and building, said the best situation would be to build the complex on land already owned by the city. In that case, Brown said, “all we would have to come up with are the estimated construction costs.”

Brown said the city does not yet know how the project will be financed because there is no firm site or blueprint, but some seed money could come from the city’s Redevelopment Agency.

Despite the uncertainty, the city’s arts community is glad it will get a facility. “I think there’s a real need for a home for the arts in Buena Park,” Young said. “The people really like the arts . . . and (city officials) are really looking for something that will benefit us in the present and the future.”