ANAHEIM : Arts Council Seeks Help to Find a Place

The Anaheim Arts Council has asked the city to help build a museum and performance center to replace an aging facility that was closed last year.

The group, which advises the City Council on local art issues and is composed of artists, performers and their supporters, says that since the Anaheim Cultural Arts Center was shut down last July, the city’s arts organizations have been scrambling to find places to display their work and to perform. Art groups also recently lost access to room at the Anaheim Plaza, which is closing for renovation.

The Anaheim Cultural Arts Center--a former school campus the Anaheim City School District leased for $1 a year to the city--was shut down to free the land for school district use and also because the building was not earthquake-safe. It had been the city’s arts center for 20 years.

“When it opened 20 years ago, the center was supposed to be a temporary facility while the city planned for the future,” said Julie Mayer, a member of the arts council board of directors and a city planning commissioner. But, she said, little was done until 1989, when it became apparent that the school district was going to reclaim the facility. Since then, the city and the group have discussed various sites for a center but have been unable to find a solution.

Mayer said the group now wants the city to help it find a site for a facility and help it draw up plans.

“With the Clinton Administration coming into office, there is a possibility of a public works act being implemented, and we need to have a plan in place,” Mayer said.

Mayor Tom Daly suggested that the city staff assist the group in a search for state, federal and private grants that might be available to pay for the project and its operations. He also requested that the staff estimate how much a facility would cost.

But City Manager James D. Ruth pointed out that because of multimillion-dollar budget cuts in recent years, there is scant funding for such a project.

“Obviously, we have a funding problem in this city,” Ruth said. “Not only would we have to build a facility but also pay for ongoing operating costs.”