MCALLEN, RGV – McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez predicts the McAllen Performing Arts Center will win awards because it is unlike any building he has been in.
According to Rodriguez, the Performing Arts Center (PAC) has been a project the City of McAllen wanted to embark on for decades. He attended several broadway shows in states such as Chicago and New York and told the Rio Grande Guardian in a Facebook livestream that the McAllen PAC is nothing like he has ever seen.
“I’m going to predict that this facility is going to win awards. It is that spectacular. You walk into the Performing Arts Center in McAllen and there’s something that happens when you start looking up at what we call the clouds and the environment around you. It’s just different. It’s like you’re in another world. But, you know what? You’re right here in McAllen and you have a building like nothing else I’ve ever seen,” Rodriguez said.
“I predict that it’s going to win awards architecturally and because of everything that’s in it. On top of that, we’re going to be able to provide shows where families would normally have to travel several hours either by car or by plane, but it’s going to be right here. Our focus is being able to bring programs that everybody in the community can afford to go see.”
Many people south of the border cross to shop in the Rio Grande Valley, especially McAllen. With the PAC, the audience can visit not only shop, but to attend shows because Rodriguez believes broadway is a universal entertainment.
“Broadway is different and very special. [The audience is watching] a live performance and it doesn’t matter where you’re from, but once you see it you will fall in love with Broadway. There is no doubt the Mexican nationals travel somewhere to watch broadway. Now, they can see it here,” Rodriguez said.
“That’s what it’s all about–to have all of these different venues for people to come in and enjoy. When you talk about the quality of life of venues, many of them are not going to make you money, but they’re going to enrich you in other ways.”
One major factor for the City of McAllen when it plans and develops new infrastructures is providing an experience for those who walk through the facilities. Rodriguez told the Rio Grande Guardian during the livestream the City of McAllen wants its residents and customers to have a good feeling about where they are.
“You have to feel something when you’re there-whether it’s at La Plaza Mall, the Performing Arts Center or the convention center district–you have to be there to experience it,” Rodriguez said. “Families are going to be able to go there with their entire family and have access to new concessions and [scenery]. This is the experience that we want you to have in McAllen.”
Click here to watch the livestream conversation.
