SALA Withdraws Application For County Funding

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on May 16, 2024
- 9:56 am

SALA Event Center owner Allan Saenz. Courtesy photo

By ALLAN SAENZ
Owner
SALA Event Center

Nearly a year after submitting a L.E.D.A (Local Economic Development Act) funding application to Los Alamos County for the Phase 2 development of SALA Event Center, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the process.

“My conclusion is that the hoped-for public-private partnership with Los Alamos County is not of serious enough interest to the County. We believed that there was a strong basis to partner on a project that would benefit both our business and the community. However, due to restrictive bureaucracy, the process has been slow and difficult, with no clear end in sight. Lacking a solid feeling of partnership, the best course of action seems to be to seek alternative funding sources.

“SALA remains committed to Phase 2 of our project and is exploring alternative financing approaches. We took the County’s goals and plans seriously and invested significant time and effort in our application and follow-ups. The L.E.D.A. capability would align with implementing the project and supporting county goals such as economic development, tourism, and business retention. However, we cannot afford to wait any longer and will pursue other options.”

“To our dedicated supporters and collaborators, please be assured that we are actively exploring other funding opportunities. We remain committed to the SALA project and its potential to benefit the Los Alamos community in numerous ways.

I encourage everyone to learn more about our initiatives and to consider partnering with us to make this vision a reality.”

For further information and methods of giving support, please visit the SALA website at https://sala.losalamos.com/salaproject/.