Dueling Dreams For The MACC

Just what would a Mexican American Cultural Center actually be? Ask six different backers of the MACC, and you may get six different answers:

"A large performing arts facility and art school with classes in all the different disciplines: theatre, dance, music. An amphitheater, lots of open space for a plaza or a festival. Also, a cafe area to generate income. The MACC is principally about performing arts. You don't put ballet and museums together." — Sylvia Orozco, director of Mexic-Arte

"An 800-seat theatre, classrooms, rehearsal space, concession space, administrative offices. At one point there was discussion and talks about having a museum at the MACC site," but that's out of the plan now. — Paul Saldaña, Councilmember Gus Garcia's aide

"If, in fact, we can reuse what exists then we plan to recycle the structures to create a facility that will best meet the needs of each of the artistic disciplines: a heritage center, performing arts, classrooms, a visual arts gallery, and the classes to support all three. It's going to become very interactive with the hike and bike trail. It will have a full roster of educational programs in all the art forms. It will look to become the open door for all international programs from all Latin American countries, not just Mexico." — Roen Salinas, Directorof the Aztlan Folk Dance Company

"Art displays and music groups for musical entertainment. The MACC will function as a focal point, as a place that people can come to, like a market square with music, entertainment, food. MACC is also going to complement Plaza Saltillo and Ole Mexico, which we've been working on just about as long as the MACC." — Jimmy Castro, in charge of public relations for the MACC

"The focus is Latino arts, but it will be a totally open facility with performing arts, visual arts, dance. And there will be an audio studio to record CDs, and we'll have video editing and recording also. There will be classrooms, an arts school, and rehearsal space for all these groups that don't have that kind of stuff. An 800-seat theatre, not only to serve as a theatre, but also for rental, and all arts groups will get an equal chance at using it. We're going to pull up the asphalt and plant lots of grass and trees. There will be some sort of a community garden and structured parking as opposed to surface parking." — Tomas Salas, director of Latino Theatre group

"We want to do a pyramid and we want to do it after the Aztec civilization. It will be more of a park atmosphere because it's on the banks of Town Lake, along Waller Creek. There'll be a lot of green space and some attractions outdoor, like a floating theatre on Town Lake. Then we'll have the exhibit space inside and another enclosed theatre. We'll build a pyramid that you can see on I-35. A golden pyramid." — Cathy Vasquez-Revilla, Publisher of La Prensa