Long Beach’s Latino Cultural Center will soon open its doors, with Centro CHA as its operator – Press Telegram

Long Beach’s Latino community will soon have a long-awaited space to share culture and art — and build connections with fellow residents.

The City Council this week approved an amended facility use permit with Centro CHA, a local nonprofit, to operate the Latino Cultural Center at the Jenny Oropeza Community Center, 401 Golden Ave. The permit will allow Centro CHA to operate and provide programing for the cultural center for three years.

Centro CHA should begin operating the center within 90 days, according to the staff report for this week’s council meeting.

This public-private partnership, city leaders said, is an important investment in preserving and celebrating Latino culture, history and community throughout Long Beach.

Centro CHA, with support from the city, has made significant progress over the past several years to launch the Latino Cultural Center, which will expand access to culturally relevant programming and community resources, according to the staff report for the Tuesday, May 12, council meeting. The nonprofit will manage and operate the center, including day-to-day operations, faculty reservations for cultural center-related activities, programming development, community engagement, and marketing and promotion.

“This is a big, historic moment, many years in the making,” Mayor Rex Richardson said during the meeting. “There are a number of improvements that are planned to take place to have this up and running, so when we open up our arms and welcome the world in 2028, we can highlight a number of cultural landmarks, districts and centers across our city that really highlight our diverse population and the largest population of our city – our Latino community.”

The Latino population in Long Beach represents about 44% of the city’s total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For several years, advocates had asked the city to dedicate a space for the city’s Latino community, which is now finally getting ready to open its doors.

In 2019, as part of the fiscal year 2020 budget, the City Council authorized $50,000 to support outreach efforts for the Latino Cultural Center. City departments partnered with Centro CHA to implement a robust community engagement process and cultural planning firm Lord Cultural Resources to draft a business plan to guide the center’s development, according to the staff report.

In November 2020, 50 community leaders were invited to serve on the Latino Cultural Center Steering Committee, helping launch numerous visioning sessions in 2021, the staff report said. They focused on developing an operating vision and feasibility plan that would guide the facility, management structure and programming, and engaged organizations and focus groups in both English and Spanish.

City staff, Centro CHA and Lord Cultural Resources presented a draft operational business plan that outlined the vision, governance, programming framework and financial considerations for the Latino Cultural Center to the City Council in 2021. In that presentation, Centro CHA was identified as the lead nonprofit for the center.

“Ever since then, we’ve been working with (Executive Director Jessica Quintana) and the team to identify the right location and plan to bring that vision to life,” Tyler Bonanno-Curley, deputy city manager, said during the meeting. “We looked at a number of different locations, but identified Jenny Oropeza Community Center as the best location given the physical space. There was an interest in using both the indoor and outdoor amphitheater spaces, the kitchen, a number of things that are at the community center, as opposed to having to develop a new facility within the city.”

Centro CHA has already been providing services and programming at the site as well, Bonanno-Curley said. In 2021, the City Council authorized entering into a facility use permit with the nonprofit to provide various services and programming, such as immigration legal services, adult English as a second language classes, reentry services, and workforce and small business development services.

Under the new agreement, Centro CHA will focus its efforts on the Latino Cultural Center moving forward, Bonanno-Curley said, and will share the space with the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, which will also provide additional programming.

“The agreement provides specifics around city oversight, financial reporting requirements, and creating different accounting mechanisms between the Latino Cultural Center and Centro CHA and their other operations,” Bonanno-Curley added. “Any earned revenues that come through the Latino Cultural Center will be reinvested in the programming and activations at the site, and again, this will be for arts and culture, educational programming, community gathering, civic engagement, a number of different cultural exhibits and programming moving forward.”

The facility is designed to serve the entire community, city staff said. It supports the city’s commitment to inclusive community development, cultural enrichment and equitable access to resources while strengthening partnerships with local nonprofits and community leaders.

“I cannot thank enough Centro CHA and our Latino community for all the patience, all the ideas, all of the hard work that has gone into it,” First District Councilmember Mary Zendejas said. “It’s moments like this that we have to stand strong as a city, as a community, to make sure that we uplift one of our special moments in the history of our city. Thank you, everyone, for everything that you have done to make this partnership work, and I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things that are going to come of this.”

Several community members and representatives of Centro CHA spoke during public comment to voice their support and gratitude for the center.

“On behalf of Centro CHA and our board of directors, we just want to thank the city for this public-private partnership,” Quintana said. “We are making history today, folks, history, and just because we’re the first to come doesn’t mean we’re the last to come. This is a great partnership that we’re putting together in our community for the Latino Cultural Center.”

Residents also highlighted how the cultural center would bring a sense of belonging to the community during a time when the Latino community has faced many disparities.

“I believe it is detrimental for the young voices of Long Beach to have somewhere they can confidently say, I belong here,” said city resident and Cal State Long Beach student Joel Gomez. “As a young person in Long Beach, I believe the center would help in aiding our community by providing a space, which not only reminds us of our cultural roots, but educates us on them. Beyond providing an essential location for Latino culture and identity to thrive, the Latino Cultural Center will serve as a foundation for cultivation and talent.”

Councilmembers thanked the community for showing their support, and many acknowledged the significance of having a space for cultural preservation. They also shared how long it had taken for a space like this to exist, which dates back to the leadership of Centro de la Raza – an organization that played a crucial role in galvanizing Long Beach’s Chicano movement and advocating for the community in the 1960s and beyond.

The Long Beach City Council approved the amended facility use permit with Centro CHA to operate the Latino Cultural Center with an 8-0 vote.

Next steps for the cultural center include investments into the Jenny Oropeza Community Center and Cesar Chavez Park, Bonanno-Curley said. This includes signage to commemorate the partnership, structural improvements and updates to the restrooms.

Over multiple budget cycles, the city has identified and set aside about $4.5 million for infrastructure investment into the site. The Public Works Department is also actively working to identify additional funding that is needed to support additional improvements to the center and park space, according to the staff report.