Plans for the $15-million facility have been floating around foryears, but have been delayed by funding and site-location problems.Current plans for the project, which would be coordinated by thenonprofit Watts Cinema and Education Center, would place thecomplex on a city-owned parcel near the Metro Blue Linestation.

The new funding comes through a $650,000-grant from the USEconomic Development Administration and a $240,000-award from theLA Community Redevelopment Agency. It pushes the total amountraised for the project to $4 million, enough to complete thearchitectural design for the 35,000-sf, two-story complex.

Barbara Stanton, executive director of the Watts Cinema andEducation Center, says that completing the architectural designwill make it easier to raise additional monies to move the projectforward. The awards from the federal government and CRA mark "acritical milestone in the planning process for an importantcommunity resource," she adds.