IRVINE : District Acts to Fix, Not Replace, Theater
High school thespians who must now perform outdoors implored school board members this week to build a new theater on campus.
The Woodbridge High School theater was closed last month by county fire inspectors because of safety code violations.
But Irvine Unified School District board members, preparing for the layoff of teachers, administrators and classified employees as part of a $2.2-million budget-cutting plan approved Tuesday night, offered little hope to the 100 students and parents who attended the meeting. A campus theater would cost about $3 million, district officials estimate.
Of the city’s three high schools, the 15-year-old, 1,800-student Woodbridge High is the only campus without a theater. Students had been performing on a lecture hall stage that had been extended about nine years ago by a group of parents. But county fire inspectors last month barred access to the hall, saying the stage is too large for the room and in violation of safety codes.
Board members approved spending $14,000 to refurbish the lecture hall, which would correct the fire code violations and return the stage to its original 550-square-foot size.
“That’s about the size of a bedroom,” Woodbridge High Principal Greg Cops said. “You can’t do a play on it.”
Parents and students have built an outdoor stage for this weekend’s performance of “No, No Nanette” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
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