Activists push to improve East Austin cultural spaces as city land heads for development

Arts stakeholders and local preservationists are pushing the city to make good on a 2021 resolution to improve and invest in a portion of East Austin known as the African American Cultural Heritage District.

The group’s work, which is aimed specifically at preserving and enhancing five music and arts venues in the district, comes as the city is preparing a request for proposals that will lead to the development of the city-owned land that includes the Victory Grill and Kenny Dorham’s Backyard music venues.

Monday’s meeting of the Arts Commission included an update from Pat Buchta, CEO of the Austin Texas Musicians nonprofit group, on assessments of the two music venues, as well as the Doris Miller Auditorium, the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex, and the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center. The collective, which does not have a formal name but also includes members of the East Austin Creative Coalition, has spent much of the past year working to determine what improvements are needed to maximize use of the venues as performance spaces and as economic engines for Black and Latino artists concentrated in East Austin.

“Our first priority is to get Council to follow through on the designation for the African American Cultural Heritage District, which would include some protections around preserving Kenny Dorham’s Backyard and making sure that whatever development does happen there is done with the community in mind and led with some Black-owned businesses,” Buchta told Austin Monitor.

“Part two is bringing some awareness and starting to search for those buckets of money, not all at once and probably somewhat piecemeal, to bring to these facilities to ensure their sustainability,” Buchta said. “Doris Miller and Millennium are way behind and in some ways have been forgotten. … It is possible to create an entertainment district that puts money into the Black community and provides a home for underserved genres and artists that don’t really have a place.”

Last June, the Economic Development Department gave its most recent update on its plan for enacting the pieces of the 2021 resolution related to the district. Since then, the Millennium complex has become one of the first creative spaces designated to receive money from a 2018 creative space bond package. The $400,000 earmarked for the facility will pay for upgrades to support film and cinematic uses as well as general endeavors by creative organizations.

Buchta said none of the other four venues are expected to receive money from the 2018 bond package, but the work being done now could help in determining how much to ask voters to support in a future creative space bond initiative, possibly in 2024.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Commissioner Carl Settles gave an update on the process of issuing requests for proposals for blocks 16 and 18, which is being guided by the Urban Renewal Board and the Austin Economic Development Corporation.

Settles said the effort is being informed by the 2021 City Council action regarding the district, as well as requests by the Arts Commission and Music Commission to prioritize creative spaces and the cultural heritage of the area.

He said the requests for proposals are expected to be made public and open for responses this summer.

Ray Price, an area director for the Notes for Notes nonprofit, said facilities like Doris Miller Auditorium need to be substantially improved and made into regular gathering spaces for the city’s growing population.

“The history is still very much here. You can almost feel the energy when you walk in the building. It’s really incredible and what we want to do is actually reinstate that energy,” he said. “This district is changing and now it’s yoga studios, wellness spas, smoothie places … before you know it, the city is going to have a totally different face-lift. Because of the rich nature of what this district has been to so many people … the new individuals have no idea of what it was to those people or what it was, period.”

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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