A community arts center could be open sometime next month after
Gilroy’s City Council on Monday unanimously approved a two-year
lease to the Theater Angels Art League to use the former Salvation
Army building.
A community arts center could be open sometime next month after Gilroy’s City Council on Monday unanimously approved a two-year lease to the Theater Angels Art League to use the former Salvation Army building.
On Tuesday, the art league announced that it was joining forces with the Gilroy Arts Alliance. The newly formed group will oversee the new arts center, and representatives said they look forward to getting the keys on Jan. 1.
“It’s very exciting,” said Sylvia Myrvold, president of the Theater Angels Art League after Monday’s council decision.
The city purchased the building and the surrounding land for a cultural arts center. However, money for that multimillion dollar project would have to come from the city’s public facilities impact fund, which is in debt.
The arts alliance will use the building at 7341 Monterey St. and 10 adjacent vacant properties as an interim arts center at no cost in exchange for maintaining the property and making improvements to the area.
The arts center will include workshops, small exhibits, staged readings and book signings. The arts alliance also hopes to turn land behind the building into an outdoor theater, which could be open by late spring, and an educational demonstration garden for urban gardening.
