Center of Attention : Sinatra and a Host of Show-Biz Luminaries Are Expected at Gala Opening

What some are already calling the crown jewel of this affluent city will receive its coronation Wednesday night.

With Frank Sinatra in the spotlight and show business luminaries and government officials on the guest list, Cerritos opens its $60-million Center for the Performing Arts--instantly catapulting a city best known for thriving retail business and impressive homes into the entertainment mainstream.

“It will be the biggest hoopla event the city has ever had,” said Councilwoman Ann B. Joynt. “We expect glittery dresses, celebrities, lights, the whole nine yards.”

Mayor Sherman R. Kappe said the arts center will put Cerritos on the cultural map. “No longer will we be looked upon as a bedroom community that has an auto mall,” he said, referring to Cerritos Auto Square, which bills itself as the world’s largest auto shopping center.

Celebrity guests expected to attend the gala, which begins with a 6 p.m. invitational reception before Sinatra’s performance, include Phyllis Diller, Mickey Rooney, Ernest Borgnine, Treat Williams, Angie Dickinson, Billy Dee Williams, Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Tony Curtis, Kirk Cameron, Chelsea Noble and Judd Hirsch.

Gov. Pete Wilson will be represented by Joanne Kozberg, director of the California Arts Council. Other government officials expected include Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, County Supervisor Deane Dana and Assemblyman Bob Epple (D-Bellflower), as well as past members of the Cerritos City Council. Council members from neighboring cities will be guests at Sinatra’s Thursday performance.

City Manager Art Gallucci said the city is spending $90,000 on the opening events, which covers everything from special lighting to distinctive tiles that were mailed as invitations to the opening.

The high-visibility activities are designed, Gallucci said, to “sell tickets and get people to know where the (arts center) is.” All five of Sinatra’s performances are sold out, center officials said.

As the opening approaches, workers are still putting finishing touches on the most expensive public project in city history. The bulky complex has been under construction for more than three years as the centerpiece of the city’s Towne Center development, which includes offices and a hotel. A shopping center, anchored by a Wal-Mart store, is scheduled to be built this year.

With its pyramidal roofs, glass towers, tall flagpoles and striking geometric tile in shades of purple, yellow, green and brown, the center is emerging as the glitziest building in a city of generally conservative architecture.

“People are knocked over by it, and it’s not a building you’re going to forget,” said Kurt Swanson, city human affairs director and center project manager.

The Wednesday debut will climax a 10-year effort by the city to build a community arts center. Over the years, the project grew in scope and cost--and attracted critics who said Cerritos, with a population of 53,240, was too small to enter the precarious and competitive world of performing arts.

After debating whether to build a community center geared toward local events or a professional venue, the City Council in 1986 opted for what has become the arts center. An innovative multiple-seating design developed in England allows the auditorium to be used as a flat exhibition space or as theaters with seating ranging from 900 to 1,963 seats.

Former Councilwoman Diana S. Needham, who was a leader in the project, said the design was intended to make Cerritos competitive in the arts world with a facility that could be used for everything from intimate plays to conventions.

Construction costs were originally estimated at $40 million, but delays caused by such things as design changes, labor problems, and bad weather pushed the project a year behind schedule and added $5 million to the cost.

The project also includes another $15 million for such things as architectural and consultant fees. Swanson said those charges were originally to have totaled about $9 million. More than $4 million was added to the bill when the city made a cash settlement to remove itself from a pending lawsuit over construction delays. The litigation involves the contractor, S.A.E./Continental Heller, architect Barton Myers Associates and project engineers, Ove Arup & Partners California.

Swanson said he is proud of what the city will gain from the project but is glad construction has ended. “It’s been no more difficult than any $60-million project,” he quipped. “It’s a big facility, complex and one of a kind . . . extremely difficult to design and construct.”

But the costs continue to boggle even some city officials who have pledged to make the venture a success. Joynt, the councilwoman who cast the lone “no” vote against the arts center in 1986, said she still would have preferred a less costly community center. She is the only council member still in office from that era.

Kappe said he “might not have voted for it” if he had been in office, but added, “My job as mayor is to take what I have and . . . make sure the performing arts venture is successful.”

The arts center, built with city redevelopment funds, will require a $2-million city subsidy during the first year. Joynt and Kappe said it is an expenditure Cerritos can afford.

Needham agreed: “This was never looked on as a moneymaker. We do so many things to bring services to the citizens that don’t make a profit and this is going to be included in that group.”

Said Joynt: “If you look at it in the long run, it’s going to mean a lot of identity for our city. Having your own classy theater right here in your back yard is very nice. You can have things you enjoy seeing and you don’t have to drive downtown or to Orange County.”

Officials are encouraged by the $2.1 million in ticket sales already racked up for the first season, which will extend through May and include such attractions as Kenny Rogers, Ann-Margret, the musical “Grand Hotel,” the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and George Burns and Joan Rivers.

The center’s marketing effort is aimed at an estimated 1.7 million people within a 20-minute drive of the city.

Community groups also have started reserving the center’s meeting rooms for events, including the Artesia-Cerritos Soroptimist Club, which is holding a fund-raising casino night, and Long Beach jazz radio station KLON, which will hold a banquet.

“It makes a clear message,” said Walter Morlock, the center’s marketing director. “There is a great need and desire for this theater.”

Chamber of Commerce President Rose Reets said the business community hopes that the center will be a boon for stores, restaurants and hotels. “We hope for and anticipate a great deal more business after the opening,” she said.

Vital Statistics

What: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts

Where: 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos Towne Center

Cost: $60 million

Acres: 8.8

Size: 132,000 square feet

Key features: Pacific Theatre, with five configurations: arena, 1,500-seats; three theaters, 1,963 seats, 1,450 seats, 900 seats; flat floor (for conventions, trade shows), 6,000 square feet. Two meeting rooms, full banquet kitchen--8,172 square feet

Architect: Barton Myers Associates, Hollywood

Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants, London