Torrance OKs Revised Arts Center

Ending a lengthy process to stay within a $10-million budget, the Torrance City Council this week approved plans for the long-sought Torrance Cultural Arts Center.

The design for a 500-seat theater, community meeting hall, art studio, staff offices, and dance and exercise rooms was approved Tuesday night by a 6-1 vote.

The plans were drafted by the firm of Liebhardt, Weston & Associates. A year ago, the council fired H. Wendell Mounce & Associates when its design for the center exceeded the $10-million budget by $7 million. The council hired Liebhardt, Weston in April to redesign the project.

The arts center, which will be in the Civic Center complex, will be completed in 1991, with ground breaking in the spring of 1990.

After six weeks of negotiations with city officials and a 2-hour session with the council, plans for the project were made public Tuesday. Final drawings will be completed within a year.

To meet costs, the council in the past six weeks cut several features from the plan, including a $355,000 rehearsal space, a $47,000 meeting room, $138,000 for on-site parking and $215,000 for production equipment in the theater.

Councilman Dan Walker, who voted against the project, said he supports the plan but opposes the seating arrangement for the theater. To cut $96,000 from the budget, the planners opted for less-luxurious seating with reduced leg and aisle room.

“I don’t want to spend $10 million and then have people not be comfortable because we refused to spend $96,000 more” for seating, Walker said.