Los Angeles Latino Theater Company Ordered Out of Downtown Home

Article by Ryan Vaillancourt, Staff Writer for LA Downtown News.com. Photo by Gary Leonard

Photo of Jose Luis Valenzuela the executive director of the Latino Theater Company. 

The Los Angeles City Council today voted to evict the Latino Theater Company and the Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture from the city-owned Los Angeles Theater Center.

The move terminates the city's lease with two tenants that have been battling since the Latino Museum sued the Latino Theater Company in 2009. The LTC responded with a countersuit last year.

Much of the discussion that led to the Tuesday decision came in closed session. The approved motion stated that both tenants failed to meet "the reasonable expectations of the City, and therefore the Council has a basis to terminate the lease."

The Latino Museum and the Latino Theater Company won a 20-year lease to operate the former bank headquarters at 514 S. Spring St. during a contentious 2006 bidding competition. The LTC has programmed the building's four theaters, while the museum has staged exhibits in the lobby and basement.

Both tenants were ordered to leave within 45 days. The city attorney's office will launch a new public bidding process to find an operator for the 1917 edifice. The city will most likely look to maintain the site's use as a theater venue, Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry said.

"It's most appropriate as a theater and over the past several years having the Latino Theater Company in there saved us an amount of money because we didn't have to do renovation or maintenance," Perry said. "The city did achieve its objective of extricating itself from operational aspects of running a theater."

Jose Luis Valenzuela, artistic director of the LATC, said the company is still weighing its options in terms of how to respond to the eviction.

"When they send us the [eviction] letter, they'll tell us how to comply," he said.

In June 2009, the Latino Museum sued the city and the Latino Theater Company, alleging that it has been denied its rights under the lease. It also charged that it has been erroneously billed, and suffered damages as a result.

The LTC fired back in a countersuit the following March, saying that the museum had pledged to help cover a $4 million renovation of the center, but never paid up. The parties remain in litigation.

The decision comes a week before the LTC planned to announce its 2012 season, which was slated to kick off March 19 with a production by in-house theater company The Vault.

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

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