IRVINE : Music Conservatory Still a Traveling Show

Irvine Music Conservatory teachers are still driving to their students’ homes three months after they were barred from holding classes at the school’s new location. And the 20-year-old nonprofit organization is still paying $1,650 a month to rent space in a building it cannot use.

After the music school moved to its new, larger quarters at the Airport Business Center on July 30, city officials prohibited music classes there, citing zoning and fire code restrictions.

The school has lost about 35 students since it moved and survives only by sending teachers to the homes of about 80 students, according to the conservatory’s director, Eric Wright. He blames Koll Management Services, the leasing and management division of the Koll Co., for recommending the site, and says leasing agents have been slow in helping the school find a new location.

“We just want to get the ball rolling and get back in business,” Wright said.

But Koll attorney Ron Brown said the music school failed to secure necessary city permits when a smaller facility became available last month.

“We’ve been right on top of it. We showed them space immediately,” Brown said.

Koll has offered the school a larger location nearby, but it would cost more--about $2,000 a month. Wright said the school cannot afford that price and plans to make a counterproposal.

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. blamed Koll leasing agents for not checking with the city to determine if music classes could be taught at the current site.

But the company takes a different view. “In essence, it was up to the tenant to make sure their use was compatible with zoning and everything else,” Brown said.

Wright said the school cannot continue to pay monthly rent for space it cannot use. “We’re giving it one last gasp,” he said.