MCS plans to build a performing arts theater

Galvin Deleon Guerrero

Mount Carmel School, which has an energetic theater club, is looking to build a home for that club, where they can stage their plays, as well as provide a venue for all performing arts programs in the CNMI.

The plan is to build a 1,000-seat state-of-the-art performing arts theater, according to MCS president Galvin Deleon Guerrero. He pointed out that there is a vibrant performing arts scene in the CNMI but no home for them.

He said that MCS’ own performing arts program continues to expand every year, so MCS has taken upon itself to provide the program with a home as well as for other local performing arts programs.

“We [at MCS] have such an amazing performing arts program and, of course, our theater program is growing, but beyond that, in our community, there’s such a vibrant performing arts scene but there’s no home for the performing arts. [There’s the] Friends of the Arts, the Saipan Community Band, the Marianas High School Glee Club, all these great performing groups out there and they’re having to perform in makeshift venues, so we really hope to provide a home for the performing arts in the Marianas and the region and we want this to be the crème de la crème, one of the best performing arts center in the region,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero is giving the project three to five years because there’s a lot of work to be put into the project.

“It’s a monumental effort. We want to make sure that we do it right. One thing we don’t want to do is turn this into another multi-purpose center because the tendency is that the multi-purpose center is going to lose its functionality. We want this to be strictly for the performing arts,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said they have already been pre-approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the funding of the project but there still is no cost estimate.

“There’s this form of FEMA funding that allows you to build new structures or to replace old structures. We’ve been sort of pre-approved to pursue this type of funding, which allows us to build a brand-new structure. Part of the requirement with FEMA is to provide a cost estimate but, in order to do a cost estimate, we need to bring in a contractor and an architect for a design,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said MCS has only been working on the project for the past month and wants to generate more excitement for it

“Next month, were going to hammer down the cost estimates and we’re going to package that into our FEMA request,” he said.