Westminster : Auditorium to Become Arts, Recreation Center

The City Council voted 4 to 1 last week to turn the vacant 17th Street School auditorium into a cultural arts and recreation center, despite opposition from residents who said the money should be spent to give city employees a salary increase.

A newly created nonprofit corporation will use city park and recreation funds, plus private and state grants, to refurbish and maintain the building at Hoover Street and Westminster Avenue.

The city plans to rent the auditorium to groups for theatrical performances. City officials said they hope revenues from productions will help pay operating costs.

But a petition signed by about 260 residents complained that the plan was being approved without any public input and while contract negotiations were continuing with the city’s three employee associations. The contracts expired Feb. 1.

Dissenting Councilman Melvin Jay said he was opposed to the project because it would be difficult to find grant money and ultimately the city would be forced to pay for maintaining the structure, which has been vacant since the elementary school was demolished last November.

“It is hard to tell city employees they can’t get a raise and then vote to spend money on this auditorium,” he said.

A private developer, the Delma Corp., is building a 312-unit senior citizens housing project on the former school site, behind the auditorium. The Delma Corp. had originally planned to raze the auditorium, but a council-appointed advisory committee recommended retaining the Depression-era building. The city hopes to finish renovations within 18 months.