Buena Park : Funds Will Be Sought for Cultural Arts Center

A five-member Cultural Arts Foundation has been formed to raise money for a cultural arts center, an idea first proposed almost seven years ago.

The nonprofit foundation will work with the city to help generate the money needed to get the project off the ground, said Sue Williams, the city’s administrative relations manager.

“We haven’t come up with a figure yet on how much it will cost,” Williams said. “But we are talking about a lot of money. We are talking millions.”

Besides soliciting private donations and putting on fund-raising events, the new joint partnership will explore how to use “creative financing,” such as bonds, to generate income, Williams said.

Whenever the center is completed, it will include a theater, rehearsal and meeting rooms, an art gallery, a kitchen, and storage rooms for equipment, Williams said. One possible location will be where the current City Hall is located at 6650 Beach Blvd.

“There is talk about constructing a new City Hall, and the new cultural arts facility could be incorporated with it,” Williams said. But as yet, there is no target date for the opening of the center, she said.

The idea of a cultural arts complex was first proposed by the city’s Fine Arts Commission, according to its president, Carol Young. The city gave the project the go-ahead in 1983, but it still had no money or site for it.

“We are real excited,” Young said Wednesday. “This is the first real tangible thing we have from the city other than their commitment. This is the next step, and we want to (get) the public involved.”

John Francis, a La Habra attorney who is incorporating the foundation, praised the city’s willingness to work with the new organization.

“My perception is that the members of the City Council and the city manager’s office, without exception, are probably more receptive to the possibilities of a nonprofit organization than any other city I have worked with,” he said.

Five foundation board members will be named at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Williams said.