COSTA MESA : Playhouse Group Acting on Its Debt

An organization that rented a room in the civic center to run bingo games is beginning to pay its debt to the city.

The group, which helps the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, wants to pay off the debt and raise money for the community theater.

Hugo Hunziker, vice president of the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse Patrons Assn., handed a $1,000 check to the City Council earlier this month as payment toward a $3,150 debt the group incurred when it rented the space.

The group ran a bingo parlor out of the Civic Center in 1991 and, after it failed, was unable to pay all the rent.

A city ban on smoking contributed to a drop in attendance from about 150 players each week to only 30, Hunziker said.

“Smokers comprised a great part of (players),” he said.

Hunziker said he has recently received $400 more to give to the city, and he plans a fund-raiser at the theater in May.

He said he would like to have some comedy acts and perhaps children’s plays. The theater is at 661 Hamilton St.

Hunziker said he looks forward to raising money for the theater instead of worrying about paying off the debt.

“I think we can go forward and bury this miserable cat,” he said.