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4C I DEL RIO NEWS-HERALDa »D UVLNGSUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2014By STEVE BENNETTSan Antonio Express-News AP Member ExchangeSAN ANT’ONIO — To someone walking up West Houston Street, the art deco Alameda ITicater — w'ith its soaring, 86-foot marquee — looks pretty much as show business entrepreneur Gaetano “Tano” Lucchese envisioned it when the theater opened in 1949 as the largest Spanish-language movie and vaudeville palace in the country. But that’s just the facade, which was restored in 2000, a positive step on a long, often rocky road to reopen the historic theater. Inside, the heart of what was once “little Mexico” shows the signs of more than two decades of neglect. It’s dark and dusty, crammed full of old furniture. That could change as quickly as next year if Ernest Bromley’s vision for the Alameda becomes reality.An important step in the restoration process has just been taken; the completion of backstage improvements this month.“ iTiis is a sacred place,” said Bromley, the San Antonio advertising executive who is chairmiin of Alameda Theater Inc., a nonprofit organization that is the master leaseholder on the Alameda, city propertysince 1994. “All the great artists of the Mexican golden age — Pedro Infante, Maria Felix, Vicente Fernandez — performed here. Cantinflas performed here 11 times. This was little Mexico — shopping, dining, theater row.“Right here you had KCOR radio, the first Mexican American Chamber of Commerce in the country and the Mexican Consulate. Gus Garcia, the civU rights litigator, had his offices here. The building was built with Mexican steel. It was a hotbed for the Spanishspeaking world. Timo was not a political activist, but what he did with his money was activism.”The initial phase of transforming the dormant theater into a modern performing arts space reached completion this month, the San Antonio Ex-press-News reported.Behind the scenes, workers busted out the back wall to double the size of the stage and install a modem stage-house with the infrastructure to host everything from touring Broadway productions to standup comics.“Our intent is to restore this theater pretty much the way it was — but to mtxlemize it and make it flexible enough for television, theater, dance, concerts, opera and comedy,” saidPhoto by San Antonio Express-News.Steve Bennett | APThis photo taken March 14 shows the Alameda Theater, housed in the Internationa! Building, is the heart of San Antonio,” said Ernest Bromley, who is spearheading the venerable theater’s restoration.t%Pel Rio RealtyVSan Antonio architect Kellis Almond, who specializes in the restoration of old theaters and has worked for years on the Alameda.Designed by architect N. Straus Nayfach, who was best known for his homes in the Monticello Park Historic District, the Alameda “has been called one of the finest examples of Mexican-American architecture in the United States,” Almond said.Funded with $6 million in Bexar County' venue tax bonds and $1.1 million in city funding, the $7.1 million first phase ofa planned $25 million renovation includes dressing rtxims, offices, an orchestra pit and a loading dock capable of accommodating a 53-fixn tractor/trailer full of sets, props and equipment.“I’d love to see productions like (the Tony Award-w’inning musical) ‘In the Heights’ in there or groups like Ballet Hispanico out of New York,” Bromley said. “I’d like to see comedy in there, particularly Latino comics. I’d like to screen movies as well, classic Mexican movies that may have premiered at the Alameda back in the day. I’d like to host an international film fes-tival. And I’d like to see us rent to ItKal groups; I’ve talked to Jump-Start Perfonnance Co. and Arts San Antonio.“I don’t see us producing content initially because that’s t(Hi expensive,” he added. “But I do see the Alameda growing our creative economy in terms of utilizing local talent. And with the schtKl there, it will create careers for young people.”Last year, the Henty Ford Academv: Alameda School for Art + Design moved intothe theater complex, occupying two floors of the iconic Casa de Mexico International Building, which houses the theater. I’he tuition-free charter school signed a 10-yearlease.“The Alameda has such a tradition, particuhu-ly relative to the Hispanic communit’ and to that part of the city,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who was mayor when the city purchased the theater in k}94. “'Frying to get the dcKirs back open has been a long, complicated process over 20 years. (The county has) done our part with the backstage area, and the schcxil is in there. St) it’s being used. But it’s got a ways to go. The issue now is to raise additional funds.”Bromley ht)pes to take advantage of public FIR/, or 'Fax Increment Reinvestment Zone, funding that could generate $10 million. But he has to raise matching funds for future renovations.Phase II ($7 million) includes mechanical and electrical for a fully functitning stagehouse and a finished intermission lobby space with a new ct)ncession stand. Phase III ($7 million) includes the completion of the restoration of the theater’s famous murals, heating and air-conditioning, concession areas and toilets, carpet, lighting and technical platforms, and new seating.
Newspaper Details
Del Rio News Herald
Del Rio, Texas, US
Sun, Apr 27, 2014
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Sarah G.
USA 12 Jul 2018
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