Westminster Launches Cultural Site; Design, Cost Yet to Be Determined

Malcolm Willis, a man happiest when he’s marching with a set of drums, has spent more time rearranging furniture than keeping step since Westminster’s old 17th Street School auditorium was demolished.

Willis and his band, the Nicholson Pipes and Drums, used to practice their marching routine in the spacious auditorium. But since the auditorium was torn down, they’ve often practiced at the Westminster Senior Center dining hall, where the nearly 20 members have to rearrange tables to create enough room to form a circle, never mind march.

Of course, when the weather’s nice, the band members sometimes heft their drums and bagpipes to the parking lot to practice their full routine. “The neighbors tend not to like that,” Willis noted.

The choice of either irritating homeowners or pushing tables might be a thing of the past, if things go as planned for the Westminster Multi-Cultural Community Center, which held its groundbreaking Saturday.

Supporters hope that the proposed center’s 418-seat auditorium will give artists like Willis a home as well as encourage civic pride and provide an economic boost.

But despite being in the planning stages for more than 13 years, the center, which also would have a park, 15,000-square-foot banquet facility and a Vietnam War memorial, still does not have a finalized design or a price tag. And some fear the center could become an economic burden.

The city has set aside more than $4 million for the center at Monroe and 15th streets. But the latest estimate, done in 1998, projected it would take $8.4 million to finish the center.

Groups would not pay for use of the venue but instead would split ticket receipts with the city.

“I’ve seen people reach into their heart, but I haven’t seen people reach into their pockets,” Councilman Kermit Marsh said. “In today’s economic climate, I don’t know if this is the right time to try something like this.”

Even when the auditorium was still in use, city leaders planned for a state-of-the-art performance center. The initial plans for the Multi-Cultural Arts Center were approved in 1988, but the site, architect and budget have changed several times since.

After the auditorium was torn down, several local groups started taking their acts to neighboring cities.

Of the more than a dozen artistic groups in the city, about half hold their events outside city limits, said Gladys Logan, chairwoman of the city’s Cultural Arts Commission. The Nicholson Pipes and Drums holds its annual concert at the Ebell Theater in Santa Ana, even though Willis said many of the group’s hometown fans and the band itself have a hard time adjusting to the digs.

“It’s kind of strange,” Willis said. “On the drum it says, ‘Westminster,’ but there we are, playing in Santa Ana.”

City leaders are more forthright.

“It’s not just embarrassing, it’s disgusting,” Mayor Margie L. Rice said.

Rice and others worry the lack of a large central meeting place hurts the city’s efforts to promote Little Saigon as a tourist destination or to host large business conventions.

“When you want to hold a convention in Westminster, where do you go?” asked Councilman Frank Fry Jr. “Garden Grove or Santa Ana.”

Rice is so passionate about the center that she plans to champion subsequent votes for the various stages of the center, like the final design, even though questions remain about the project’s financing and parking availability.

“We’re going to do it this time; I am going to pursue this until it’s finished,” she said.

Westminster leaders are also touting the center as an economic anchor for the area. The center would employ about 90 people, who would provide services during events, city officials say.

But all these could be undercut if the city cannot secure financing and finish the plans.

Although Rice insists there is plenty of “federal money out there for us,” center supporters hope Saturday’s groundbreaking will spur companies to donate toward the center. Even the name of the center hasn’t been decided, in case a corporation wants it renamed in exchange for a substantial donation.

But Marsh points out that private efforts to raise money for the facility have been largely unsuccessful. Furthermore, with the economy tightening, Marsh is unsure if private companies will be in a charitable mood.

“I don’t see private donors coming up with $1 million; I don’t even see them coming up with half a million,” he said.

Nonetheless, he too is not giving up: “The cultural center is going forward.”

Which is music to Willis’ ears. “Moving tables gets old pretty quickly,” he said.