People socialize outside El Casino Ballroom this month. The Latin American Social Club, which bought the building in 1968, is marking its 75th year.
El Casino Ballroom’s 60th birthday isn’t the only anniversary of note. The organization that runs the club, the Latin American Social Club, is marking its 75th year.
The LASC began in 1932 as the Depression hit Tucson and the rest of America. It was a particularly hard time for those of Mexican descent. With jobs in short supply, Anglo politicians passed legislation to “repatriate” (deport to Mexico) both Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans, regardless of citizenship.
Over the years the club served as a refuge, a place to consolidate political power and an organization dedicated to Hispanic culture and causes.
In 1968, when it was pushed out of its original downtown headquarters to make way for the Tucson Convention Center, LASC bought El Casino Ballroom for its new home. It was a good fit, giving the organization a place for members to gather and an organic way to further serve community needs.
In 1971, LASC established a scholarship program to send worthy young Hispanic students to college. One of the first two recipients was 17-year-old Salpointe Catholic High School senior Liz Rodriguez Miller, now Tucson’s deputy city manager. Miller used the scholarship to attend the University of Arizona.
“It’s been the foundation for everything I’ve been able to accomplish,” she said. “(The scholarship) was from a group of working-class men representing themselves, their families and the community. It was a great intersection with my life and background and where I grew up.
“I felt like it was my turn to pick up the mantle from them and be the next generation of Latin American/Chicano/Mexican culture in the community.”
The scholarship program died out in the 1990s when the roof blew off El Casino and the ballroom was closed for nine years (see stories in Calendar and on Page 1A).
But in recent years, the program has been revived, this time serving Pima Community College students.
In December, the Latin American Social Club provides brand-new bicycles to needy local kids. Volunteers converge on a Saturday to assemble the bikes and on Sunday (this year Dec. 16) a big party is held to give them away.
The program started by giving away just a few bicycles.
“Jesse Lugo and John C. Scott helped us take it to the next level,” says LASC president Edward Lopez. “When they came in, it went to 200 bikes. Now it’s 500.”
Folks descend on El Casino with their toolboxes to pitch in. They compete to see who can build the most bikes, Lopez says.
“That first bicycle a kid gets is something they never forget,” Lopez says. “It’s something to behold.”
Fred Martinez (left) is manager of El Casino Ballroom and Ed Lopez is president of the Latin American Social Club.
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