Victoria Gardens Cultural Center facts for kids
The Victoria Gardens Cultural Center (VGCC) is a special place in Rancho Cucamonga, California. It's a community library and a place for performances. You can find it right next to the Victoria Gardens shopping area.
This big building brings together three main parts: the Lewis Family Playhouse, the Paul A. Biane Library, and the Celebration Hall. They are all under one roof! The center officially opened its doors on August 19, 2006.
Groups like The Rancho Cucamonga Library Foundation and the Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation help support the VGCC. They teamed up in 2002 to start a fundraising effort called "Promoting Arts and Literacy" (PAL). These groups still hold yearly events, like a telethon and a gala, to raise money for the PAL campaign.
The entire project cost about $33.8 million. The City of Rancho Cucamonga did not use its regular city funds for this. Instead, the money came from different sources. These included a $7.8 million grant from the State Library. A company called Forest City Enterprises, which helped build Victoria Gardens, also contributed $5.7 million. Other money came from private groups and special government funds.
Lewis Family Playhouse
The Lewis Family Playhouse is a performing arts center. The city of Rancho Cucamonga, California owns and runs it. What's cool is that the city also creates and produces most of the shows here. About 65 percent of the performances are made by the city itself.
Resident Theater Groups
The city runs several theater groups that perform at the Playhouse. They include:
- The MainStreet Theatre Company creates plays especially for children and families. They have put on shows like Ferdinand the Bull, Suessical, James and the Giant Peach, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
- The Rancho Cucamonga Community Theatre program helps young people and adults learn about theater. It also gives them a chance to perform. Past shows include A Christmas Carol, Oliver!, and Steel Magnolias.
- Broadway at the Gardens puts on one big, exciting musical theater show each year. Their first show in 2009 was Sweeney Todd.
- The Black Box Productions are smaller, more dramatic plays. They are performed in the Studio Theatre. Some past shows include The Diary of Adam & Eve and Proof.
Paul A. Biane Library
The Paul A. Biane Library opened at the same time as the Lewis Family Playhouse. This was in August 2006, when the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center first opened. The library is named after Paul Biane. He was a supervisor for San Bernardino County. He helped get over $1 million in tax money to build the library.
There have been discussions about making the Biane Library bigger. It has 14,000 square feet of space on the second floor that is not currently used. The idea is to turn this space into a special center just for children.
The library has a large technology center with 21 computers. There are also five study rooms that the public can use. These rooms can hold two to six people. You can also find a quiet reading room and a small bookstore. The city of Rancho Cucamonga provides free wireless internet.
The library offers many programs for both children and adults. Sometimes, the library and the Lewis Family Playhouse work together. They put on events that use the Celebration Hall, the Playhouse, the Imagination Courtyard, and the library itself.
Celebration Hall
Celebration Hall is a large space, about 4,500 square feet. It can be divided into up to three smaller rooms. It's mainly used as a multi-purpose room. It has a full kitchen and equipment for audio and video. People can rent this space for many different events. These can range from business meetings to wedding parties.
