CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Kapampangan Cultural Center (KCC), a facility that will serve as haven for the propagation of Kapampangan arts and culture, will soon rise in this capital city.

Fr. Restituto “Resty” Lumanlan, co-founder of the Foundation for Lingap Kapampangans Inc. or FLKI (formerly Save Pampanga Movement), bared this to Sun.Star Pampanga during an interview Saturday, saying the construction of the facility will give local artists, cultural scholars and artist groups the needed boost to improve their crafts.

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Lumanlan said the project, which is almost two decades in the making, was a brainchild of the FLKI leadership who saw the need to save the cultural and artistic treasures of the province.

The FLKI was initially founded as an organization that sought to gather support to save important areas in the province, particularly then San Fernando town, from the ravages of lahar after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

“We realized then that there is also a need to safeguard the cultural heritage of Pampanga not just from lahar but from the ravages of time, neglect and advancement,” Lumanlan said.

He added that they are set to ground break for the construction of the facility this month.

The facility will be constructed in the 6,000-square meter area that was once the location of the University of the Philippines Satellite Campus in this city.

Lumanlan said construction of the building facility will be set at P20 million through the help of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The facility will have its own theater rooms, showrooms, and a section for the Diosdado Macapagal Museum. The facility will also house the Museong Kapampangan, which will be relocated into the said facility from its current location inside Clark Freeport.

Lumanlan said KCC would be the perfect venue for cultural shows, seminars, art and cultural exhibits and can even play host to regular shows by local, national and international theater groups. Once realized, the KCC will be the first of its kind in Central Luzon.

“We plan to make it a haven for the arts and we hope to spark a new wave of cultural renaissance in Pampanga,” Lumanlan said, stressing that the facility will be managed by the FLKI and proceeds will be used for the continued operation of the center.