Three major cultural projects are currently under construction in different parts of the Zapopan municipality. All are behind schedule, although at least one may completed before the end of this year.
Artes Escenicas
In the past few months, work on the Universidad de Guadalajara (UdG) Conjunto de Artes Escenicas has virtually come to standstill, university authorities admit.
Now 45 percent complete, the complex will eventually be home to three concert halls, housing 1,800, 900 and 400 spectators respectively. In addition, it will have a theater/cafe with a capacity for 120 and a “creative laboratory” for 100, says CCU director general Mauricio de Font-Reaúlx Rojas.
Located on UdG land between the Auditorio Telmex and the new State Library, the CCU expects to receive 550,000 visitors annually. The Mexico City architectural firm Aquitectura 911 won the bid to design the complex back in 2009.
The final budget for the complex is estimated at around 700 million pesos – most of the money coming from federal and state funds. The stop-start nature o construction is largely due to administrative issues in handling resources, the UdG says.
A completion date has not been fixed.
Palacio de la Cultura
Also behind schedule is the Palacio de la Cultura y la Comunicacion, a state-of-the-art performance and cultural space being built by the Asociación Radiodifusoras y Televisoras de Occidente (RATO), which includes broadcasting giants Televisa and Television Azteca among its members.
Located to the north of the city, across from the Trompo Magico Children’s Museum, the the center will contain a 1,900-seat auditorium, an outside performance arena for 3,350 spectators and a small theater with a capacity of 370.In addition, the complex under construction will house a museum dedicated to the radio and television industry, an “art wall,” a musicians’ hall of fame and music and dance schools
The federal and Jalisco governments have chipped just under one-third of the estimated 40-million-dollar cost of the project. RATO and other private investors are providing the remainder of the funding.
The original completion date was June 2013.
Centro Cultural
The slow pace of construction has put the finish date of the Centro Cultural Constitucion well behind scheduled.
The new edifice will house a concert hall for 350 people, as well as be the headquarters for the Zapopan Symphony Orchestra and the new Zapopan Music School.
Started early in 2012, the building was scheduled to be completed last year but estimates now put that date some time in the fall of 2014.
Construction costs have risen by 25 percent since the building was originally budgeted at 73 million pesos.
The center is being built in the Mercado Bola in Colonia Constitucion.