Sacramento – The California Cultural and Historical Endowment (CCHE), a board created by the successful ballot initiative in 2002, voted to grant the Pasadena Playhouse $967,500 to fund their efforts to acquire the land the theater sits on.  Although the Pasadena Playhouse has the official state designation as California’s “State Theater,” the land is not owned by the theater company, thus preventing the renovation of the Playhouse’s structures.

In testimony before the CCHE, Portantino highlighted the importance of the theater and the need for the grant to be rewarded.  “The Playhouse has served as a popular theater destination, not only for Pasadena, but also for the greater Southern California region since 1929,” said Portantino.  “This money will go a long way towards improving accessibility and ensuring the theater lives on and expands its programs for future generations.”

Funding was sought by the Pasadena Playhouse to acquire the land from private hands.  Once the land is purchased, the Playhouse will begin infrastructure upgrades to the building, make the Playhouse ADA compliant, alter the existing space for the Carrie Hamilton Theater, and restore the theater’s historic façade.  The CCHE grant will couple with private fundraising efforts undertaken by the Playhouse’s board of directors as well as obtaining the services of a well respected architect and interior designer free of charge.

Additionally, the CCHE also voted to award $1,741,500 to the Kidspace Children’s Museum, a 3.2-acre state-of-the-art museum campus in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco.  According to the grant request, the Kidspace Museum intends on constructing permanent fixed educational exhibits and building infrastructure improvements to complete the Kidspace Master plan.  These exhibits will enable the museum to teach children about the great engineering and technological achievements and innovations in Southern California that have supported the region’s extraordinary growth over the past 150 years.

“I come before you today in support of this request not as a state Assemblymember, but as a parent of a five year old who simply can’t get enough of Kidspace,” Portantino said before the CCHE board.  “The people behind Kidspace have found a unique and effective way to get children excited about science, as evident by their over 700,000 visitors since the museum opened their new facility in 2004.”

With this grant, Kidspace will build a number of permanent exhibits covering subjects such as construction and engineering, agriculture and food, and health and wellness.  These exhibits will provide multidimensional learning experiences that demonstrate the history, culture, and interconnectedness of the human built world in our state.

Assemblymember Anthony Portantino was elected to serve the 44th Assembly District in November of 2006. The district encompasses Altadena, Duarte, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, South Pasadena and Temple City.  It also includes portions of Arcadia, Monrovia, Mayflower Village and the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods of Glassell Park, Hermon, Highland Park, Mount Washington and Eagle Rock.