For LATC, the Final Curtain : Culture: Hundreds pack the Los Angeles Theatre Center, which closed Sunday night after six financially stormy years.

Hundreds of supporters of the Los Angeles Theatre Center packed the house Sunday for the final performances of the critically acclaimed but hopelessly insolvent company, as city officials prepared to padlock the unique four-stage complex.

After six stormy years in which the innovative company presented nearly 100 works and constantly dodged financial disaster in the pursuit of artistic brilliance, the theater’s board of trustees last week decided to ring down the final curtain.

With about $1 million in debts, no cash and contributors weary from constant appeals, the board voted to close the doors and walk away as of Sunday night.

“It’s like someone pulled your heart out, and you wonder, do I have the strength to grow another,” Lee Sweet, LATC general manager, mused Sunday.

Ironically, the three matinee performances and three evening presentations on Sunday were nearly sold out--an accomplishment that the theater was not often able to duplicate.

Between its location on crime-plagued Spring Street on the fringe of Skid Row and a repertoire that embraced experimental works, the LATC never developed the following of patrons and contributors necessary to make it a financial success.

“One of the tremendous things about this theater was that it took risks that no other theater would take,” said UCLA student James Waterhouse after attending a Sunday matinee.

The theater, which received more than $27 million in city funds over the years and whose building is owned by the city, was intended to be a spark for revival of downtown’s derelict Spring Street.

It was not. But supporters say the theater cannot be called a failure, despite its closing.

Since it opened in 1986, the theater center had presented 91 plays--many of them world premieres of works by young playwrights--and had attracted more than 250,000 people a year.

Much of its appeal was in minority communities--Latino, black, Asian and gay--whose playwrights and actors were given opportunities not available at many of the city’s mainstream theaters.

“It’s a whole different crowd here,” said Susan Cohen, who attended an LATC play for the first time Sunday. “It was worth coming down just for the lobby experience.”

But not all in attendance were quite so happy. “I feel terrible,” lamented Sylvia Rosenwein, a season ticket holder. “I don’t like the idea of no longer having a place for experimental theater.”

The LATC also catered to schoolchildren, bringing tens of thousands to the facility for performances and classes. And its relatively low prices made theater accessible.

The city hopes to find another theater company to take over the facility, but officials acknowledged that is a process that could take months at a minimum.

In the meantime, the Department of Cultural Affairs will attempt to allow some limited use of the complex--such as rehearsals for minority workshops--but does not intend to present any public performances, according to Aldolfo Nodal, general manager.