San Juan County Commissioners voted to approve the purchase of the Totah Theater in downtown Farmington to be part of Totah Studios, which will include extensive backlot properties to host film and television productions.
San Juan County will pay for the Totah Theater and any backlot construction with a total of $1 million in grant funding from the state of New Mexico. The county received $1 million in capital outlay funding from the 2019 Legislature for the construction of a film studio and has been allocated $500,000 from the 2020 session for the same purpose. The additional dollars have been approved by the governor.
Renovations will make the theater compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, upgrade some systems and increase fire safety. It will include office space and amenities available to productions. It will also be used for training a film industry workforce, other cultural events, and by local schools and San Juan College for the education of aspiring filmmakers.
San Juan County intends to partner with the city of Farmington to run this facility as an extension of the Farmington Civic Center. The county plans to deed the Totah Theater to the city of Farmington to operate and fulfill the intent of the venue.
San Juan County is also partnering with the city of Farmington to use city land to construct an outdoor movie set that could portray Puebloan architecture, a Spanish-style village or the middle eastern style. Currently, the Totah Backlot village is in the final stages of design.
Renovations of the Totah Theater are expected to be complete in late 2020, which would likely coincide with the completion of the Totah Backlot set.
