Rebirth of a Natural

Burbank officials demonstrated their commitment to quality development when they agreed to work with the builder of the Media City Shopping Center to include a special public building that once housed a branch of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. The museum shut its doors nearly three years ago after poor attendance, but earlier this month the Burbank City Council approved a deal to bring culture back to the mall.

The council agreed to spend $1.28 million to convert the building into a 276-seat live theater. Construction of the Burbank Performing Arts Center is scheduled to be finished by the end of the year. After that, the Colony Studio Theatre has agreed to take over day-to-day operations to minimize ongoing costs to the city, which leases the 14,000-square foot building from the mall as a venue for social and cultural events.

The departure of the Natural History Museum left a hole in the heart of downtown Burbank, which has been transformed from a sleepy shopping strip to a jazzy collection of shops, eateries and movie theaters.

But the new playhouse restores a little culture to a once-maligned neighborhood and confirms the commitment of Burbank officials to make their city more than just another soulless suburb.