Vote would boost Su Teatro vision

Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 27, 2007 at midnight

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Officials of El Centro Su Teatro will walk into City Council Monday evening along with its strongest supporters, and signs say the company will walk out with a $1.5 million loan for its new building.

Last Monday, the bill proposing the loan sailed forward to a final reading, leaving Su Teatro, a group used to fighting for everything it gets (and often doesn't), stunned.

"We didn't expect it to be so quick, but we're happy that it was," said Yolanda Ortega Ericksen, a veteran company member.

El Centro Su Teatro is a longstanding Chicano/Latino arts center that produces theater, music, and visual art. Su Teatro owns its current home at 4725 High St., but wants to move to a larger, more modern and more central location.

The loan takes the company almost halfway to the $3.5 million budget for the new cultural center it plans in a to-be-renovated warehouse at 251 S. Santa Fe Drive. The loan, funded by a Community Development Block Grant, would give Su Teatro considerable momentum in its additional fundraising efforts.

Su Teatro officials also plan to apply for a $250,000 grant from Denver Housing and Neighborhood Development, $300,000 from a Senate appropriations bill and $750,000 in new market tax credits.

The new building, at 41,000 square feet, will be open to other cultural groups as well, including Shadow Theatre Company, which plans to come aboard, according to Anthony J. Garcia, Su Teatro's executive artistic director.

Su Teatro will stay in its current building until construction is completed, with a target date of early 2008. Already, it has received several offers from both nonprofit and commercial groups to purchase its current home, said Garcia.

Any opposition to the loan was expected to be voiced at this past Monday's meeting, making Su Teatro leaders optimistic about the final approval.

"Their view was that if anything was going to come up it was going to come up tonight," Garcia said. "It's not done-done, but it's close."

If you go

• What: Su Teatro goes before the Denver City Council for a vote on the final approval of a $1.5 million loan toward its new building on South Santa Fe Drive.

• When: The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. Monday

• Where: Denver City and County Building, 1437 Bannock St.

Lisa Bornstein is the theater critic. bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101

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