Updated 1 p.m. Aug. 16

Seniors attended Round Rock City Council Aug. 11 to protest a proposed black box theater being installed at the Allen R. Baca Senior Center.

The black box theater is a project being explored by City Council to convert the Grand Room into a space that could host small plays and other performances for an audience of about 200 people. At the time, city staff said the room would be able to be converted to the black box and revert to its original function as the Grand Room at any time.

However, residents who spoke at council Aug. 11 said the proposed black box would render the Grand Room unusable.

John Atkinson said he has been a member of the Baca Center since it was built. He said the Grand Room is used by just about everyone in the Baca Center at one point or another for meetings and other performance.

"If the Black Box were built, additional areas of the center [...] would also be required [for the live performances]. So usage for the members would be constricted for a considerable time if not forever," he said.

Resident Vernon Fristoe said most everyone he talked to was opposed to the theater, and most felt the city had not informed them about it.

"Maybe if we could have a vote of people at the Baca Center because it looks like we don't have representation there," he said. "Maybe we could have it on a voter referendum next time [there is an election.]"

Others were in favor of the theater.

Resident Miranda Stewart said the black box is a small acknowledgement for the needs of the performing arts in the city.

"It's a win/win for Baca Center and the community," she said.  "By supporting it the Baca Center gets the rents [from performances] and the community gets the live performances."

Round Rock Mayor Pro Tem Craig Morgan said he believes much of the discord pertaining to the black box stems from miscommunication.

"I think there is misinformation out there, that the city is proposing to take events away from the Grand ballroom, all the current events, and put the seniors in a different facility, and that’s not the case," he said. "What’s being done right now is a feasibility study [...] to first of all see if a black box theater can fit in the Grand ballroom, number one. Number two, it will be used for the days that it’s not being used currently now."

Morgan said there is a "substantial amount" of days the Grand Room is not being used, and most of those are on weekend nights. He said the theater could possibly enhance events currently held in the Grand Room with better lighting and sound.

"If the feasibility study comes back and says it can’t be done, I think the city council will look at plan B, but if it can be done, we owe to all our citizens, we owe a duty to make sure that we are being efficient with their tax dollars," he said.

Story was updated with comments from Mayor Pro Tem Craig Morgan.