OXNARD — The Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation on Jan. 3 concluded negotiations with the City of Oxnard to ensure the community center part of the facility (classrooms and ballrooms) remains open for the residents of Oxnard and Ventura County through March 1, 2020. This enables operations to continue while negotiations are finalized between the City of Oxnard, the anticipated new operator Sterling Venue Ventures, and the OPACC nonprofit for long-term management. But with no events on the books for 2020, there is very little revenue anticipated these next sixty days and The PACC is asking the public to show its support by booking an event, attending a PACC function or donating to the online fundraiser set up by Anderson .Paak (donate link can be found online at oxnardperformingarts.com or by texting SAVEOPACC to 44-321).
At a City Council meeting on December 17, Oxnard’s City Manager Alexander Nguyen made an announcement that he had closed the public Request for Proposals (RFP) process and was entering into negotiations with Sterling Venue Ventures, owner of a handful of entertainment venues in Southern California known as The Canyon Club. Mr. Nguyen iterated that Sterling Venue Ventures would have the option to bring the PACC nonprofit into a potential partnership. Though this is a reformatting of the nonprofit’s initial RFP proposal, it still contains the dynamic qualities the PACC Board of Directors felt were the key components to assure the facility will be run efficiently, maximizing use for the community and presenting extraordinary, year-round entertainment in the 1,604-seat theater.
“We are ecstatic that final negotiations are in the works between the City of Oxnard and Sterling Venue Ventures and anticipate securing our role as the 501c3 nonprofit representing and working on behalf of the community’s interests very soon. Our goals are to present dynamic programming, increase community usage of this incredible facility, and begin fundraising for capital improvements in order to modernize this cultural gem that the residents of Oxnard helped build 52 years ago,” says PACC Executive Director, Carolyn Merino Mullin.
Without the help of dozens of individuals and organizations, the PACC’s future could have taken a very different turn. “We appreciate that City Management has been thinking out of the box on options and want to thank our supporters in the community for standing with us to keep the PACC open for future generations, and to publicly acknowledge our Board of Directors – Manuel Herrera, Michael Doty, Doranda Martin, Len Shulman, Vincent Stewart, Irma Lopez – for the months of meetings and negotiations that it has taken to get the PACC headed in the right direction for the next 50 years. None of this would have been possible if not for our dedicated staff – Carolyn Merino Mullin, Jose Beccera, Victor Rasmussen, Daniela Castro, Marvin Boos and many more – that have helped steward the PACC during these very tumultuous past six months, “ comments Gary Blum, President of the PACC Board of Directors. “We look forward to sharing updates regarding negotiations to finalize all of this and to eventually announce that the PACC IS BACK.”
Please note that with the changing operational structure, the PACC has updated its contact information. For inquiries, rentals and other matters, please call (805) 385-8147 or email rentals@oxnardperformingarts.com.