$3.5-Million Arts Fest Urged for ’92

San Diego should spend $3.5 million to stage an arts festival in 1992, the city manager recommended Tuesday. The report, to be presented to the City Council Monday, proposes a festival based on one of two themes--”New Worlds--A Changing Mosaic” or “European Mosaic ’92.”

Although private donations will be solicited to help fund the festival, according to officials in the city manager’s office, the report recommends that the city allocate $3 million in transient occupancy tax revenue for the festival, including $500,000 from 1991 TOT funds and $1.25 million from 1992 and 1993. An additional $500,000 budgeted for the festival is expected to come from interest earnings, ticket and merchandise sales.

All of this comes at a time of tight budgets and close scrutiny of monies spent. But Bruce Herring, executive director of last fall’s “Treasures of the Soviet Union” festival and now an official in the city manager’s office, is optimistic: “I think it’s realistic in the sense that we have a proven track record.”

The city paid $2,970,000 for its first festival, and $2.8 million in net proceeds were returned to the city’s general fund earlier this year. The report also says that the “festival generated an economic impact in San Diego of $46.7 million,” although it does not detail the benefits to the city.

Herring said he believes the new recommendation is “conservative” in light of last year’s success. “I don’t think there’s a risk,” he said.

The broad-based European themes for the festival were suggested by a committee organized by the Commission for Arts and Culture after a series of public meetings last summer, said Darlene Shiley, who chaired the committee.

Both themes are intended to reflect recent political changes in the European countries, including the 1992 unification of the European Common Market. They will also leave room for an “observance, though not necessarily a celebration,” of the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America, Shiley said.

“There’s so much going on in ‘92,” she said. “We didn’t think the entire theme should be consumed by those (Columbus) observances.”

The broad theme was widely endorsed by members of the arts community at the July and August meetings, and its appearance on the city manager’s report was applauded yesterday by Tom Hall, managing director of the Old Globe Theatre.

“I was one of those who encouraged the city to move toward a broad theme,” Hall said. In planning for the 1989 Soviet arts festival, he said, the theater company had difficulty finding a range of quality productions to fit the theme.

Hall said the Old Globe has not begun planning for a festival yet.