Priority Given to School Theater

A new theater for Woodbridge High School was given top priority by school board members Tuesday night over two competing projects.

But with dim prospects for funding anything more than the theater, school board members agreed to explore selling the district’s administrative headquarters building and renting space in City Hall.

“There’s no question that the city has the facilities,” said school board member Howard Adler. “We may find out very quickly that they’re not interested; we may find out very quickly that the price is not right.”

The Irvine Unified School District board meeting attracted a standing-room-only audience of parents, teachers and students who lobbied for the Woodbridge theater and for a second Irvine High School gymnasium. School board members also discussed the need for a second sports stadium after the district’s fourth high school, Northwood High, is completed in fall 1997.

The fierce lobbying was prompted by the estimated $2 million to $2.5 million in proceeds expected from the planned sale of a closed elementary school, which now houses the district’s Auxiliary Education Center.

At Woodbridge High, a lecture hall that was converted about 10 years ago into a theater was closed by county fire inspectors last April because of safety code violations.

“Right now, we’re having our theater under the stars,” said Woodbridge High parent Richard Butler. “Anything is a lot better than what we have now.”

The district will begin consultations with an architect to determine what kind of facility the school needs and how much it will cost.