Cultural Center Study Approved

Three months after approving a developer’s proposal to build an entertainment center, the City Council on Monday approved $18,000 to study possible funding for a city cultural center.

Plans call for both developments to have playhouses for live performances.

The similar proposals come after a $27,000 study completed in June, 1989, concluded that there were no professional theaters within a 10-mile radius of City Hall and that financial support from the city would probably be necessary to operate a cultural center. That study, by Harrison Price Co. of Torrance, was paid for by the city.

A telephone survey completed in June found that more than 40% of residents surveyed want more theatrical events in West Covina and that 54% would most likely attend events at an arts center. The $7,000 phone survey also was paid for by the city.

On Monday, the council voted 4 to 0 to approve the $18,000 study recommended by a city-appointed committee. Councilwoman Nancy Manners was absent.

“The $18,000 is for a feasibility study, to see if there is enough money to fund an arts center, such as grants, individual and corporation donations,” said Ken Camarella, chairman of the Cultural Center Study Committee.

On July 9, the council gave preliminary approval to San Dimas developer Gary Kanter for a 120,000-square-foot development including restaurants, retail stores, multiple-screen movie theaters and a playhouse.

“We have to keep our options open,” Mike Miller, director of community development, said of the second proposal. “We don’t know if Kanter will work out, because only a proposal was approved. We are going down a parallel track. There’s still a need for a 1,600-seat theater, and for a smaller, 350- to 400-seat theater.”

In October, 1989, the council approved a city-owned site west of City Hall for the complex.

Under the city’s proposed plan, the Covina Valley and West Covina Unified school districts would be asked to help pay for a cultural center because the schools would use the center for theatrical performances.