Quake-Repair Funds OKd for El Portal

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to give nearly $3.8 million to the nonprofit group that runs the historic El Portal Theatre here, salvaging stalled efforts to repair the earthquake-damaged landmark and make it a centerpiece of the still-burgeoning NoHo Arts District.

The unusual award--FEMA rarely gives money to theaters--ended four years of negotiations with El Portal’s managing company, Actors Alley, and Congressman Howard Berman’s office. The grant was hailed Tuesday, just days before the fourth anniversary of the Northridge earthquake, as official recognition of the 72-year-old theater’s role as a neighborhood anchor.

“The building is more than just a large theater,” said Bob Caine, the managing director of Actors Alley. “It’s a center for the community to use, a cultural hub of the area. I’m very excited about the prospect of another opening night.”

Ivy Weiss of the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce called El Portal a community centerpiece.

“We’re thrilled that such a landmark will be preserved,” she said. “The renovation is a major part of the area’s revitalization.” Actors Alley had been less than a month from opening El Portal in 1994 when the Jan. 17 Northridge quake cracked open the ceiling and rattled the walls, wiping out a recent $250,000 renovation funded by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency.

The damage was so extensive that a $1.3-million grant from FEMA in 1996 didn’t come close to covering all the bills at El Portal, which opened as a vaudeville house in 1926 and for many years operated as a movie theater. With the new grant announced Monday, FEMA will have given Actors Alley about $5 million since the earthquake.

The renovated El Portal--with three theaters of various sizes--was supposed to be the beacon for other gentrification efforts along Lankershim Boulevard near Magnolia Boulevard. But other projects marched past Actors Alley while the 60-member company was mired in bureaucratic red tape with FEMA.

Early on, FEMA questioned whether the theater troupe was even eligible for a grant because it did not own the building but instead had a 29-year lease from the Kaufman and Goodgame Family Trust. Then, Actors Alley had to demonstrate that its numerous educational programs qualified El Portal as a community center, which made it eligible for the federal funds.

More recently, when the two sides were close to an agreement, FEMA balked over details like footing the bill for remodeling restrooms or expanding the number of seats.

“It was a long, hard process,” said Leland Wilson, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for Northridge recovery. “We disagreed a lot.”

The $3.8 million covers a variety of expenses. Included are funds for ceiling repair, a complete overhaul of the electrical, air conditioning and heating systems and asbestos abatement, Wilson said.

FEMA funds have already paid for seismic retrofitting of several walls in the theater--a strengthening process that gives them a better chance of withstanding another earthquake.

Although the FEMA grants to Actors Alley will total nearly $5 million on paper, in the end, the group won’t receive that sum in cash, according to Caine. Nearly $700,000 was already spent to survey the damage and estimate the cost of repairs, he said. And Actors Alley, as a private group, is not eligible for a portion of the FEMA grant usually provided by the state to government-owned facilities.

Instead, the theater company will have to raise up to $500,000 to cover the remaining costs of the repairs. Caine said Actors Alley plans to hold several fund-raising events in the coming months.

“In spite of all the aggravation that goes with it, they gave us a fair price,” Caine said. “Now that we know how much money we’re getting, we can start to plan the work.”

Actors Alley hopes to have the two larger theaters operating before the end of the year. The company has been using the smallest venue, the 44-seat Storefront theater, since 1995.

Immediately after the quake, the Actors Alley troupe performed at Valley College and, for a while, under a large tent across the street from the El Portal Theatre.

While four years seems long, Wilson said the process would have been even longer if not for FEMA’s brand new pilot program that speeds up the distribution of funds--the Grant Acceleration Program.

Under this program, FEMA offers an applicant a sum based on anticipated expenses, plus a 5% cushion. Normally, FEMA waits until after the work has started before agreeing on a settlement, Wilson said.

“We’re basically saying, here’s our best offer, take it or leave it,” said John Treanor, public information officer for the agency.

And take it Caine did.

“The deal gave us enough room to get a lot accomplished,” he said. “So we signed off.”

Jeremiah Morris has been artistic director of Actors Alley for 10 years--and has spent nearly half of that time waiting to use the El Portal’s 99-seat and 380-seat theaters. He aims for eclectic programming now, but with three theaters the company will be able to do an even wider variety of plays.

“We’ve started in the direction of doing some classics. I want to do avant-garde and burlesque, and social dramas and crowd-pleasing comedies,” he said.

That Actors Alley finally has enough money to rebuild was good news to other Valley theaters and nearby businesses. Edmund Gaynes, president of the Valley Theatre League, said a mid-sized venue would be a welcome addition to the many sub-100 seat theaters in the area. El Portal will add weight to the notion of the Valley as a home for professional theater.

“This is in the class of the Coronet or the Canon--smaller than the Geffen Playhouse--but it’s a mid-sized theater, and that’s exciting to have in this area,” Gaynes said. “It’s a sign that there is a belief in the value of theater. It’s a logical expansion of what we’ve been developing here over the last five years.”

Brian Sheehan, who owns Brian Sheehan’s Eclectic Cafe, a restaurant nearby, said that another theater might bring more customers to the area.

“We’ll have to wait and see. In the first year if they don’t do any really good productions or bring in some big names, it will be just another Valley theater with a small audience,” he said. “Being very familiar with Actors Alley, I am confident they will bring some high-quality work here that should bring a lot of people into the area.”

Rauzi is a Times staff writer; Becker is a correspondent. Times correspondent Darrell Satzman also contributed to this story.