EDINBURG — At one time or another, most people in this city have dreamed of buying and revitalizing the historic Citrus Theater located downtown. That collective dream is finally coming true thanks to Nick Cantu, a real estate broker who has now taken on the mission of breathing new life into the theater, and the news of his plans has energized the community with no shortage of people willing to help.
Last weekend, about 400 people said goodbye to the Citrus Theater in its current form — worn, aged and filled with faded relics of its heyday.
But despite its long life, the theater’s bones remain strong, according to Cantu.
CEO of Fox Real Estate Pros, Cantu purchased the theater from Felipe Garcia, an attorney who had owned the theater since 1994.
Cantu’s excitement about all the possibilities the theater has to offer was palpable as he spoke to The Monitor on Thursday about the project and how it all came to be.
IGNITING THE SPARK
He said he first began thinking about buying the historic theater in June 2021, after hosting a forum with city and county officials as well as developers and property owners to discuss the revitalization of the city’s downtown area.
It was during that discussion that Francisco Guajardo, the CEO of the Museum of South Texas History, talked about the importance of preserving the city’s history, including the Citrus Theater.
“That’s what got my attention,” Cantu said. “Shortly after that meeting, a couple of days later, I got access to the building and I go in there with my contractor hat on, looking and trying to see in what condition she’s in.”
He quickly realized the theater was still in good shape and began thinking he could do something with it.
But taking on the project came with its hurdles, particularly when it came to securing the financing.
“Obviously, last year, COVID still was causing issues and so obviously the bank didn’t have too much of an appetite for that nature of business,” he said.
However, demonstrating the quality of the theater helped to get them on board.
“Things just kept falling into place and Daniel De La Viña from Lone Star National Bank, he deserves a little shout out because he’s a special person there at the bank and he really went above and beyond to help us get this to the finish line,” Cantu said, adding, “because, again, there were many points where it could have just quickly fallen off the rails.”
COMMUNITY RESPONSE
As word got out of Cantu’s plans for the theater, more and more people — from within and outside of the community — reached out to him to offer their enthusiasm, praise and recollections.
“I’ve never been a part of something so special to people,” Cantu said. “Typically, when you’re developing something, you’re on the offense, you’re looking for people to be interested in your product.”
This has been the complete opposite for him.
“People are just ecstatic about it and … honestly, it’s like hair-raising on how exciting and honored I feel,” he said.
Last month, Cantu’s team at Society 204 — a coworking space he opened in 2020 — announced the revival of the theater, no longer as simply the “Citrus Theater” but as “Citrus Live.”
The group also began offering tickets for the farewell tours which sold out within 24 hours and brought those hundreds of people to see it as it currently sits for one last time.
“We had people there basically in tears, hugging us and just saying all kinds of sweet stuff,” Cantu said of the tours. “I’ve woken up every morning since then to messages and wishes like, ‘Good luck’ and ‘anything I can do to help.’”
The tours were held the weekend of April 9 through April 10 and among those given the opportunity to see inside the theater were Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. and Councilman Johnny Garcia.
“I was taken aback by the conditions that it is now, it takes you back to how it was operating in the past,” Garza said after the tour. “I think it’s great that it’s being restored, it goes with what’s happening in the downtown — the courthouse being opened later this year, we’re about to finalize the amphitheater here in our downtown, and hopefully start building a parking garage soon later this year — so this just adds to all that’s taking place.”
For Garcia, it brought a lot of memories back to how it used to be and remarked on how the original founder of the theater really invested in making sure the structure really withstood the test of time.
“Today, we have a population of over 100,000 people and yet I don’t even think the quality of the structures that we do compare to what this gentleman did,” Garcia said. “His vision was just out of this world at that time.”
Throughout the process, Cantu said city leadership has been very accommodating, exhibiting the enthusiasm that the rest of the community showed and making themselves available to any questions he and his team may have.
“That’s big,” Cantu emphasized. “You can’t move to the next step unless you get certain answers, and so from the mayor all the way down to planning and zoning and the fire department, the (Edinburg Economic Development Corporation), even the (Edinburg Chamber of Commerce) has just really come out like ‘What’s next? What can we do? Where are you at?’”
The fire department’s assistance, in particular, was remarkable to Cantu because, from what he’s seen in other cities, fire departments often have so much going on that it can be difficult to get them to pay attention.
That hasn’t been the case this time, with the city’s fire chief to the fire marshal’s office checking in on Cantu’s status.
PROJECT STATUS
Currently, Cantu says they’re still going through the permitting process with the city and continuing to brainstorm ideas for the theater.
“Obviously, times were very different when it was constructed … taking into consideration all the upgrades that she needs,” he said. “So we’re just kind of going through the motions of the city just to make sure that — not only is she visibly sound — but also sound safety-wise and structurally wise.”
The needed enhancements include electrical, fire prevention, plumbing, and equipment which they’re still refining, but Cantu’s hope is to finalize plans with architects this weekend so they can be submitted to the city next week.
Following any comments the city may have, they hope to begin demolition which will focus on the bathroom areas which will need to be enhanced in order to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
They will also need to make more space to accommodate bigger crowds.
Cantu is aiming for a six-month turnaround time that will ideally place them with a late-October, early-November opening date.
“I would love to have our first event happen around the Christmas time,” he said. “That would be best-case scenario.”
Worst-case scenario is they would open early next year.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Cantu and his collaborators at Society 204 have varied ideas about the types of events they would like to hold at Citrus Live and are open to hearing ideas from the public.
What is known is that once open, the reimagined theater will be open daily with Vintage Hot & Cold Brew, a coffee shop in Weslaco, and CC’s Sweets, a McAllen bakery, are both already slated to open up shop there.
Also, on days when it’s not booked for special events, they expect to project old movies or other entertainment.
One of Cantu’s tenants at Society 204 is none other than James Echavarria, also known as Rock-n-Roll James, and together Cantu says they’ve been discussing the possibility of producing a show almost like “The Voice” as one of the theater’s day events.
Part of the renovations will include expanding the stage to accommodate bands and for their prime time events — held Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights — they hope to have concerts or even having live, acoustic performances similar to the Austin City Limits Live, or ACL Live, performances.
Cantu is also eyeing themed nights such as “Roaring Twenties” events with people in costume.
“We would like to create those kinds of evenings where you could come and have dinner and enjoy a show,” Cantu said. “We definitely think Edinburg is more than ready.”
TEAM EFFORT
Cantu credits working out of a co-working space for allowing him the ability to tie all his ideas together.
“This is like a hub of supernerds,” he said, describing the feeling of camaraderie among the tenants there, becoming almost an association.
Along with Renee Sánchez Leal, the director of operations, Cantu opened Society 204 in an old department store building and its stability, he says, has helped them prove themselves.
“I just am fortunate enough to have amazing people around,” Cantu said.
“My team here, Renee … they see that it’s more about the legacy that we could possibly leave, the impact that we can make versus just what dollars I have,” he said. “I tell them ‘think about opening day and what that’s going to be like.”
“When the Citrus first opened up, there was a line around the corner there,” Cantu added. “I said, ‘that’s going to happen again.’”
“To say we’re excited is an understatement,” he said.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Delcia Lopez’s full photo gallery here:
