Lancaster Bars Alcohol Sales at Arts Center

When the $13-million Lancaster Performing Arts Center opens later this year, patrons will be able to enjoy ballet, plays and concerts in the 758-seat theater. But they will not be able to sip a glass of Chardonnay or champagne at intermission, city officials have decided.

To the surprise of some in the Antelope Valley community, the Lancaster City Council voted 3-2 Monday night to ban the sale of wine and champagne at intermissions, despite a city staff recommendation to the contrary.

The decision was spurred by two council members who are teetotalers--Mayor Henry Hearns, a Baptist minister, and Councilman George Theophanis, a former bar owner--along with Councilman Arnie Rodio, who worried about liability to the city.

“I just don’t support alcohol anyway . . . in any circumstances,” said Hearns, who was elected in April, 1990. He said serving alcohol would set a poor example for children and expose the city to liability for theatergoers in drunken-driving accidents.

“If you have to have two or three drinks to watch a show, it isn’t worth staying for anyway,” said Theophanis, who had operated a bar in the nearby Quartz Hill area for about 20 years. He and Hearns said they believed local residents would mostly agree with the council’s decision.

The issue arose Monday as the council considered operating policies for the theater. Theophanis raised the first objection, Hearns proposed the alcohol ban, and Rodio supported it in a vote after only a brief debate. Councilmen William Pursley and George Root opposed the ban.

The council action dismayed the president of the private foundation that was formed with the city to support and subsidize the theater.

“I think it’s just wrong. I think they’re overreacting to the situation here,” Lou Bozigian, a former Lancaster mayor, said.

He said the three county-owned theaters at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles serve wine and mixed drinks. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone falling around drunk at a theater,” Bozigian said. He said the Lancaster Performing Arts Center Foundation might ask the council to reconsider its decision.

The council’s action has both social and financial implications. The new theater is expected to require a city operating subsidy. City officials had been counting on alcohol sales to cover part of the expense.

“You don’t get big bucks from selling Coke and a brownie,” said Susan Davis, the city’s cultural arts superintendent, who called alcohol sales “pretty standard” for municipal and private theaters. She said the staff’s only reason for recommending alcohol was to raise money.

The council action left open the possibility that members could grant exceptions to their ban. Hearns and Theophanis said they were flatly opposed to serving drinks in the theater at all. Only Rodio said he might support exceptions if they were brought to the council.