City Seeking Lease on Vacant Hangar for Use in Filming

A deal that would let the city lease one of two historic blimp hangars at the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station to film companies could be finalized this week, officials said.

“We’ve been assured that the Navy will lease the southerly hangar for two years,” Assistant City Manager Christine Shingleton said.

The Navy and the city have agreed to terms, she said Monday, and are waiting for a correction to the contract. Officials expect to sign it later this week, she said.

Shingleton was one of three top city officials who traveled to Washington, D.C., earlier this month, in part to discuss the lease situation with the Navy, which must give final approval to any use of the hangar property.

Last month, Tustin officials said they were surprised and disappointed when, after more than eight months of negotiations, Navy officials stalled a proposed lease with Walt Disney Pictures.

Disney, which had planned to lease the hangar for an action film starring Bruce Willis, walked away from the project amid the confusion. Tustin officials said they wanted to ensure that future deals would not suffer the same fate.

The Disney deal would have brought the Navy $65,000 a month that could have gone toward closing costs at the base, Tustin Mayor Jeffery M. Thomas said.

Besides that indirect benefit to the city, films would also bring prestige.

Shingleton said the city is speaking with other film companies, including HBO Pictures, interested in leasing the hangar.

The vacant south hangar, built in 1943, has about 298,000 square feet of floor space and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It has served as a sound stage for several films.

The Marine base is scheduled to close in late 1999, and most of the property is expected to be redeveloped. The fate of the hangars is still undecided.