“We think that the Vision Theater — if we want to look for a model — will be eventually what … the Apollo in Harlem is, to where it provides those services, those economic services,” Councilman Bernard Parks said in the
Wave.
(Go
here for some great historical pictures, a history of the theater, and the plight of a recent theater renovation that cost millions. The Lesson is you have to get some programs started.)
The California Cultural and Historical Endowment gave the largest single grant in its history to help restore the Vision Theatre - $2.4 million - bringing the total to nearly $10 million. The city has pledged $7.4 million.
The Vision Theater should be reopened by 2011.
This is all good news -
but restoring this Vision Theater is not a cure-all for ailing Leim...
Renovations are expected to begin in summer 2009 to turn the 1930s-era gem into a state-of-the-art 750-seat performing arts center.
“This marks a new day for the city of Los Angeles. We will bring the Vision to its rightful place at center stage of a revitalized cultural scene,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. “A renovated Vision Theater will be an engine to drive the economic and creative energy of Leimert Park and South L.A.”
The city purchased the theater in 2000 and
. the endowment was announced in August.
Once the theater is reopened, officials estimate that it could supply 25 full-time jobs.
“If there is to be an identifiable African-American community in the future, it will be here,” added Brenda Shockley, president of Community Build Inc., a nonprofit development corporation. “The investment in … the Vision Theater should be just the beginning of the vision we see for this community, as a destination for all people in Los Angeles.”