It’s Full Steam Ahead for the Irvine Theatre

A dream nearly two decades old took a giant step toward reality Tuesday night when the Irvine City Council unanimously approved new funds for the $17.6-million Irvine Theatre and awarded a contract to begin construction.

After 3 hours of fiscal debate, jubilation swept through the council chamber as theater advocates and scores of residents wearing blue “I Support IT” buttons realized that the long-planned, long-deferred performing arts facility finally will be built.

“It’s done! It’s going to happen!” said William Parker, vice chancellor of UC Irvine, which is a partner in the 750-seat theater. “I once said the project starts when the bulldozers move. I was wrong--it starts when the City Council votes 5 to 0.”

In what had been termed a “now-or-never” decision, the council allocated $1.8 million to meet its share of a $5.4-million gap between the lowest of nine construction bids and the $12.2 million that had been budgeted to erect the building.

The university and the Irvine Theatre Operating Co., which is the third partner in the project, had already pledged $1.8 million each to cover their share of the gap.

The council vote especially pleased Richard G. Sim, chairman of the theater’s board of directors, who said it sent a strong message to the community that the city, the university and the private sector could work together effectively for the arts.

“I’m ecstatic,” Sim said with a wide grin.

The theater will be built by Los Angeles-based Swinterton & Walberg, which was awarded the construction contract as the lowest of the nine bidders. Assistant City Manager Paul Brady Jr. predicted that ground would be broken before the end of January.

Completion of the building, which was designed by San Francisco-based architects Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons, is scheduled for the fall of 1990.

The theater will occupy a 2.3-acre campus site provided by UCI and valued at $2.3 million. Its address will be 4242 Campus Road, next to the front entrance of the university.

The council decision on Tuesday brought the city’s total investment in the theater to $11.3 million. It had raised $8 million for the project in 1985 and $1.5 million in a 1974 bond issue.

To allocate the city’s additional $1.8 million, the council decided to draw $1.25 million from the Rehabilitation Reserve Fund--normally used to improve public works--and $550,000 from the interest accrued over 14 years on the initial bonds.

The theater’s operating company has raised $1.5 million for construction, mainly from corporate contributions over the past 6 months. Thomas H. Nielsen, chairman of the theater’s board of trustees and vice chairman of the Irvine Co., told the City Council that the operating company could raise another $3 million by the end of 1989.

Nielsen said he “felt comfortable” making that promise because of “the willingness of the university to become a real partner” in the theater, particularly through its commitment to raise funds.

That commitment, moreover, includes sharing the annual operating deficit of the theater with the city. By agreement, the university will bear a third of the deficit and the city two-thirds.

In a “a worst case” scenario, theater officials testified that the annual operating expense for the city would be about $300,000.

According to the expert testimony, the university also would lend its considerable fund-raising clout to the operating company’s effort to establish a $6-million endowment fund over the next 3 years. The interest from the endowment would be earmarked for operating expenses.

The general manager of the theater, Douglas C. Rankin, beamed with pleasure as he surveyed the excited crowd. “I think it’s obvious from the dynamics here that Irvine’s confidence will be rewarded,” he said.

Rankin pointed out that arts groups have already requested more than 300 booking dates at the theater.