Supply chain issues delay Westchester Cultural Arts Center

Plans to celebrate Westchester Cultural Arts Center’s grand opening have been pushed back to March 2022 – correlating with the launch of East Park, a new outdoor performing arts space.

Originally planned to have a grand opening in November, the cultural arts center, which was built by TGSV Enterprises Inc., is set to share the spotlight with East Park, which is directly adjacent, said Michael Spring, Miami-Dade County’s Department of Cultural Affairs director.

The $6.8 million cultural arts center at Tropical Park at 7930 SW 40th St. is also awaiting equipment such as the sound and lighting, bleachers and seating, he said. The center, designed by Zyscovich Architects, will feature a 200-seat studio theater and support spaces, including a lobby area that will serve as an art gallery.

“We’re caught kind of in a supply chain conundrum where things that would have been able to be purchased more rapidly are now taking a while to get purchased and delivered,” Mr. Spring said. “But we believe that we’ll have the equipment in the building and the park completed for the grand opening in March of 2022.”

Preliminary activities are occurring at the center to test the building and see how it works, he said. Roxy Theatre Group, which manages and operates the center, has been renting equipment for now and introducing people in the neighborhood to the building.

Roxy will be responsible for all costs, programming and maintenance of the arts center, estimating spending of $750,000 annually. The management and operation agreement is for 30 years, with possibly two 30-year renewal terms.

The county has also budgeted and allocated an additional $380,000 for the facility’s operations and overhead. Those funds are intended to cover the overhead utilities and security maintenance. Roxy will also be awarded a grant agreement to augment and raise its own funds for programming and educational activity.

Located on the east side of the Westchester Cultural Arts Center, East Park was just an open field and wasn’t really being used for anything, Mr. Spring said.

Once completed, the park is to offer lush landscaping, a free-standing building for outdoor picnic-styled performances along with a set of restrooms so the park can be used independently of the center itself and both can be used at the same time, he added.

“The Westchester Cultural Arts Center is a beautiful building,” Mr. Spring said, “and we look at it as a prototype for buildings that can be built in other parts of the county in the future and serve underserved neighborhoods.”