NAMPA, Idaho — José DeLeón will be responsible for overseeing all areas of the facility’s operations, including but not limited to management of all general business operations, contract management, event management, coordination, and scheduling.
- Two weeks into his new role, a new tenant is already moving into the Cultural Center.
- The city has put over $100,000 worth of repairs into the building after its previous operator was evicted.
- Current murals and sponsors will remain in the building after repairs.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"My hope is that we revive this center something where anybody can walk through the door and ask any kind of question that they have and we can help them," said new facilities manager José DeLeón.
Hopes for a brighter future under new leadership.
José DeLeón has taken charge of Nampa's Cultural Center setting out to make the facility a warm and welcoming place for the community.
"The vision for the kitchen is to get it to a point where it is a true commercial kitchen that is being used by small businesses that are being used by the community, by catering companies," José spoke about the future of the commercial space.
It's all part of the building's ongoing improvement process.
The mayor hired a new manager in January to focus on bringing the building back up to par after years of deferred maintenance, and it is not a cheap project.
The city tells me they've spent $108,718 since last summer when they evicted the previous non-profit group that ran the center.
Outstanding expenses and repairs include the building's roof, HVAC system, parking lot, and water feature.
"I don't dwell on what happened, I dwell on what's going to happen. What I want to create is a culture of 'where do we go from here?'"
Two weeks into his new role, DeLeón says one new tenant is already moving into the center making them the third to call the building home.
"We'll be doing a lot of financial workshops, things with budgeting, and also things with small businesses, and a lot of other activities that will bring in the community and make this space what it needs to be," added Mari Ramos of the Idaho Hispanic Foundation.
Current murals will stay as will sponsors recognized in the space, after necessary repairs, of course.
All in hopes of the Cultural Center truly becoming the center of the Nampa Community
"A lot more people coming through and there's a lot more smiles, a lot more greeting people, there's those little things that can make a real big difference," added Ramos.
