Performing Arts Center Revises Its 1991 Budget : Finances: The action is taken to reduce performance fund-raising needs to the 1990 contributions.

The board of the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Thursday approved a revised 1991 operating budget aimed at reducing performance fund-raising needs by $550,000--to the $2.74 million contributed in 1990.

However, this assumes an additional $250,000 netted by events celebrating the Center’s fifth anniversary in September, said Thomas R. Kendrick, the Center’s president. It also assumes $302,450 in operating gains above the original 1991 budget, as well as some administrative savings.

The operating gains would largely result from $847,810 in additional programming costs, which are projected to generate more than $1 million in additional box-office receipts. Kendrick said the unanticipated ticket revenue comes from better than expected ticket sales for the Martha Graham Dance Company in January, an extension of the upcoming run of “Les Miserables” and two weeks of performances by Opera Pacific this coming fall.

Other savings were realized through a January-February staff hiring freeze--which Kendrick said has now ended--and institution of a new health maintenance plan option for employees.

The board also announced creation of a new board position, vice chairman for endowment, filled by Henry T. Segerstrom, who served as the facility’s first board chairman. The Segerstrom family and company have been major patrons of the Center, donating land valued at $6 million for the site and more than $7 million in cash through 1989. The Center’s main hall is named for the family.

Referring to the upcoming anniversary, Kendrick told the Center’s annual meeting in Founder’s Hall that “this is no longer a fledgling enterprise. . . . This September will be a time for well-justified celebration.”

Center officials also signaled that--despite a financially difficult 1990--they haven’t given up long-term plans to expand the facility. Kendrick and other Center officials made frequent, if non-specific references to, plans to build additional halls “over time.”

“Granted, this may well not be the right moment to launch a fund-raising drive to build the additional facilities that can make this Center the rival of any in the world,” Kendrick said. “Neither is this a time to stand still. . . . We have achieved a fragile, difficult scheduling ‘balance’ that rests on full utilization of one . . . hall. The issue now is how long can that balance be maintained. How long can one hall compete with centers comprised of several halls--providing more scheduling flexibility and a broader range of programming?”

A new 15-minute video, to be shown throughout the county in conjunction with the anniversary, echoed the need for the Center’s expansion.

In an interview after the Center’s quarterly board meeting, neither Kendrick nor Center Chairman William Lyon would offer many details about the site, size or schedule for building the next hall. Kendrick acknowledged that the ongoing study was behind schedule but said that discussions involving South Coast Repertory and the five regional groups that now use the Center are continuing. He said the Center hoped to be able to announce more details of the expansion plan by this fall.

There are no new funds listed for theater expansion studies in either the original or the revised 1991 budget.

Kendrick said that while “attendance did tumble--and sharply,” down 10% from 1989, “we did not falter last year. . . . We are well positioned to ride out this recession.”

The Center recorded a series of box-office disappointments in the summer of 1990, which were attributed to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the sudden softening of the economy.

“We have budgeted to do less this summer than last summer because of the economy,” Kendrick said, although the final schedule has not yet been announced.

The Center’s treasurer, Thomas H. Nielsen, reviewed the figures for 1990, contrasted with 1989, which he reminded Center supporters was a record year. These included:

* A 10% drop in revenue from 1989 to 1990, from $14.3 million to $12.9 million.

* A 5% drop in the portion of expenses covered by revenue from 1989 to 1990, from 83% to 78%.

* An increase in operating losses from 1989 to 1990, from $2.9 million to $3.7 million.

* An increase in operating losses plus capital charges from 1989 to 1990, from $4.1 million to $4.8 million.

* An increase in the Center’s annual operating support from 1989 to 1990, from $4.6 million to $5 million.

Nielsen also outlined progress in reducing the Center’s remaining bank loan for construction of the $73.3-million facility. Less than $600,000 in outstanding building pledges remains, he said, and that is expected to be paid by the end of 1991. The Center’s endowment fund now stands at $3.2 million, generating operating support of $230,000.