Irvine Barclay Theatre Gets City Aid Increase

The Irvine Barclay Theatre this week won an increase in its annual subsidy from the city after three years of fund-raising shortfalls that city officials said may indicate a need for stronger financial management.

The city is boosting its annual $475,000 subsidy to $600,000, but most of the increase will be used to bring professional fund-raising activities to the organization and hire a chief financial officer.

The city owns two-thirds of the theater. UC Irvine owns the remaining third and contributes $212,000 a year to its operations.

City officials said they are not criticizing theater President Douglas Rankin, whom they credit with making the 756-seat, 6-year-old theater a respected part of the county’s arts scene.

“The hiring of a chief financial officer will allow Doug to concentrate his efforts on the theater’s artistic endeavors,” Councilman Greg Smith said.

Rankin said Wednesday, “I’m glad that all the horses are pulling in the same direction.”

A city report shows fund-raising totals for the current year at about $150,000, with expenditures of about $1.8 million.

The theater filed a lawsuit in 1994 against Marjorie A. Barclay, widow of developer Richard A. Barclay, after she said she would not honor a $1-million pledge her late husband had made. Though the theater won the lawsuit, the decision may be appealed.