Funds still being sought for NMI cultural center

The conceptual design for the proposed CNMI Cultural Center in the heart of Garapan is now done but the $18 million funding requirement for the project has yet to be identified.

The governor’s special advisor for CIP management, Charles D. Jordan, said that, as of the moment, the funds are not there yet.

“We would still need to identify the funds for the cultural center,” he said, adding that the conceptual design has already been completed by RIM Architects.

The initial design for the future complex places the project near the lagoon at the American Memorial Park.

Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Juan L. Babauta said he will meet different groups to ask for their assistance in coming up with the needed funding.

He said he would meet with officials from the Office of the Governor and the agencies under the wings of DCCA. These groups are the Division of Youth Services, Historic Preservation Office, CNMI Museum of History and Culture, CNMI Council for Arts and Culture, CNMI Archives, and the NMI Council of the Humanities.

Babauta said he would also seek assistance from the business and private sector.

Babauta said he would meet with the entire group so they could come up with strategies on how to address the financial problem. He said he plans to schedule the meeting two weeks from now.

As planned, CNMI Cultural Center would house the different offices related to DCCA, including the CNMI Museum, HPO, Arts and Culture Council, Archives, and the Humanities Council.

The center would also provide site improvements within the vicinity of the center, to include an outdoor exhibit area, bus and car parking spaces, designated access roads, walkways, landscaping, and other site components and improvements necessary to support the cultural center’s purpose.

In a media conference held in February, architects from RIM Architects said the cultural center will place inter-related offices together under one roof.

They cited that the museum, currently located at the old Japanese Hospital Building in Garapan, also rents a separate building for the storage of its entire collection. All other offices are located in other places across the island, making it difficult for residents and tourists to visit them.

Representatives from DCCA and its agencies earlier agreed that such a center is necessary to preserve precious and historic collections for the benefit of the entire CNMI residents.

The planned CNMI Cultural Center hopes to fix the deficiencies encountered by cultural offices and to allow the offices, such as the museum, to develop and expand its various functions.