Museo Alameda in financial straits

Utility bills were unpaid. Attendance was far short of initial projections. More than $200,000 in donations pledged to the museum hadn't been received. Officials weren't sure if they could meet payroll.

The $12 million hot pink museum in Market Square opened two years ago amid a flurry of confetti and high hopes that it would anchor a new Latino cultural corridor.

It had multimillion-dollar support from corporate heavy-hitters such as the SBC (now AT&T) Foundation, Ford Motor Co. and the Ford Motor Co. Fund. The Pedro V. Cortez family, which owns Mi Tierra restaurant at Market Square, stepped up with a $1 million donation.

Since then, however, hopes for the museum have given way to concern for the fledgling institution's future.

A 2008 audit submitted to the city's Office of Cultural Affairs in May showed the Alameda National Center for Latino Arts and Culture — which operates the museum, the Alameda Theater, a design school and an office building — suffered a $1.47 million loss on revenues of $1.97 million last year.

The organization's cash reserves were down to $7,302.

The center also has had trouble paying its debt of about $1 million.

The Alameda has gone through three executive directors in its short history. To rein in costs, the staff was trimmed from 30 to a skeleton crew of eight shortly before Guillermo Nicolas was named president in September.

The museum, which was free to visit last year, reinstated admission fees last month to increase revenue. It also depends on city funds and donation pledges, which are “slowly trickling in,” Alameda board Chairwoman Margarita Flores said.