THEATER’S TENANT LOOKING TO BUY

The North Park Theatre has played host to Dickensian plays, silent and “talkie” movies, stand-up comics, body-building competitions, opera, rock ‘n’ roll, fundamentalist religion and, this week, clowns.

It opened in 1928, a year before the stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression. It was the first theater built for sound motion pictures in San Diego and one of the first on the West Coast.

Martin Gregg, executive director of the California Performing Arts Center, which leases the theater, hopes it continues to play host to something. Gregg’s group wants to acquire the building and has until August to raise the money--a $300,000 down payment leading to a $1.3-million sale. If the group falls short, the theater could be sold to another party and converted to another use.

That would be tragic, he said, even while conceding that the North Park is one of many San Diego theaters searching for full- or part-time tenants.

Gregg believes the 1,186-seat theater--at 2895 University Ave., now owned by Horizon Christian Fellowship--is essential to the cultural and community life of North Park. He also believes North Park is the theater’s biggest problem.

“We’re suffering from three things,” he said. “One is that we’re in North Park. Two, for the last 10 years (the length of time Horizon has owned the building), we’ve been identified as a church. Third, we’re fighting community apathy.”

Asked to elaborate, Gregg said, “North Park has been on a decline for so long, with the J.C. Penney store moving out and a whole bunch of other things. Generally, I think a lot of this problem extends to Mid-City as a whole.

“People around here don’t realize how valuable this theater is and could be to the community. If they did realize that, they’d support it. And so far, they haven’t.”

Why, then, would he want the theater?

“Because it could be a boon to the community. It could provide jobs, recreation, status. . . . It could be good for North Park.”

At this point, Gregg isn’t really sure how to keep it. He’s busy booking any group he can to try to raise funds. His dream is that a benefactor will come forward with “major funding.” He’d even consider changing the name to that of the person giving the money. He wouldn’t want to, but to keep the theater, he would.

Edward Mitchell, a member of the board of directors of Horizon Christian Fellowship, confirmed the “lease-purchase option” held by Gregg and the California Performing Arts Center.

“We’ve talked of exercising it (before it expires), but have had nothing conclusive, nothing firm,” Mitchell said. “We’ve tried to help them move ahead with the option.”

Mitchell said that Horizon would prefer that the building remain a theater, given its historical nature. He disagreed with Gregg’s view of North Park being apathetic, saying that Horizon “couldn’t contain (its) growth--that’s why we left the theater.” Horizon has since relocated to the former Hale Junior High School site in Kearny Mesa. Its membership exceeds 2,000 adults.

Gregg has tried and failed to attract a full-time tenant, such as Pacific Chamber Ensemble, Pacific Chamber Opera, the California Ballet or the San Diego Gilbert & Sullivan Company. He candidly admitted he “covets” such groups, all of whom want to stay downtown and don’t see North Park, in his words, as exciting or charismatic.

He noted ruefully that two of the few sellouts drawn to the theater--since Gregg’s group began running it--were for a body-building competition and a reggae music show. Currently planned are two hard-rock events, appealing mainly to teens. He expressed reservations about the condition the theater might be left in, but he does expect large crowds.

Rock of a softer nature might be the ticket for the North Park. Gregg is aware of the type of shows now playing at a similar Los Angeles venue--the remodeled Wiltern Theatre. The Wiltern has recently booked such “soft rock” performers as Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash. Such groups, in Gregg’s view, appeal to an older, not a teen-age, audience.

“I’m all for that!” he said enthusiastically. “The right person comes in the door, I’d do that tomorrow. The only problem is, no one has been able to sponsor a guarantee--that is, assure us of a certain percentage of the gate. Avalon Attractions (a noted rock promotion company) has been in here, as well as others. Believe me, we’re working on it. This place was originally built for sound. Its acoustics are great.”

Gregg believes the theater could break even by operating on weekends only, at 50% capacity. He said the cost of operating the building is $10,000 a month, “and that’s before you put the key in the door. Lights, phones, insurance, all of that costs. The price climbs with production.”

Gregg charges outside groups 15% of the gross or a nightly rental fee of $1,500. He noted that the Spreckels Theatre, similar in size, rents for $5,000 a night.

The California Performing Arts Center has leased the theater full-time since Aug. 15. It staged two small productions before that date. Gregg’s group has presented a musical version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” called “Bah, Humbug!” with celebrities as guest narrators. “Yankee Doodle Boy,” the story of composer George M. Cohan, was another of Gregg’s productions.

Current outside productions playing at the North Park include “New Image Teen Theatre” presenting skits and discussions on AIDS and incest--”Things,” in Gregg’s words, “that make teens uncomfortable.”

The San Diego State University Clown Club is presenting “Clown Antics,” which ends its run tonight.

Clearly, Gregg would like to do more, of a loftier, more ambitious nature.

Originally, he entered into a lease-option arrangement with the fundamentalist group, agreeing to pay $50,000 in collateral: If, when his lease expires, he hasn’t secured the $300,000 necessary for a down payment, Horizon keeps the $50,000 and the theater.

The $50,000 was provided by Joel Chambers, a former projectionist in the theater, who put up his house as security for a loan. If the $300,000 can’t be raised, Gregg will owe Chambers $50,000, and, he said, he won’t have a theater.

Restaurants have offered to locate in one of the theater’s two “storefronts,” but, Gregg said, the current owner has so far turned them down. He said the church objected to a restaurant’s need for a beer and wine license and, further, didn’t want such an arrangement while Gregg’s lease is in limbo. Gregg said such revenue would go a long way toward helping the theater pay for itself.

“If we owned the theater outright, we could change a lot of things like that ,” he said, citing lighting, size of the stage, etc. “Not owning it makes it difficult. And, if we owned it, the community would view us differently. As it is, they say, ‘Well, they won’t be here that long, we’ll wait for the next person to come along.’ Trouble is, the next person will face the same attitude unless he, too, owns the building.”