Planners Back 5,000-Seat Hall

Yet another popular-culture venue may make its home downtown.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved preliminary plans Monday for a 5,000-seat theater proposed by SFX Music Group, the company that owns Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, formerly Irvine Meadows.

“We’re very excited and hope you open fast,” Chairwoman Phyllis Boydstun said.

The new theater would fill a niche, said Alan DeZon, SFX vice president of operations in Southern California. The venue would feature concerts in rhythm and blues, jazz and country and also offer comedy, children’s theater and dance.

Locating in Anaheim--west of Disney Ice at Center Street Promenade and Harbor Boulevard--makes sense because it would make the entertainment accessible to those living in Orange County, Los Angeles and the Inland Valley, DeZon said.

Though Anaheim already has a large concert venue (the Arrowhead Pond seats 17,174) and a much smaller one (the Sun Theatre seats 1,500), a 5,000-seat theater has its own appeal, DeZon said.

“We feel there is a broad niche between what they can do and what we can do,” he said.

Besides bringing in performers from around the world, SFX would most likely make the facility available to community groups such as the Anaheim Ballet and rent the 20,000-square-foot lobby for smaller functions such as weddings, bar mitzvahs and graduations.

Preliminary architectural plans include a contemporary design with large walls of glass at entrances on Center Street Promenade and large, flat panel screens in front of the building flashing images of the theater’s attractions. At night, lights would illuminate the lobby, letting people outside get a glimpse of activities inside.

Aside from the Planning Commission, other community members are upbeat over the thought of a new theater and the contribution it could make to revitalizing downtown.

Doug Priestap, who works for concert promoter DST Productions in Anaheim, was skeptical at first whether a new venue could compete with the other concert arenas in Orange and Los Angeles counties. But when he heard SFX was behind the move, he immediately changed his tune.

“SFX? Then it makes perfect sense. They can get the talent. It would be a coup for SFX to get a 5,000-[seat] theater in this marketplace,” Priestap said. “If they come through with the 5,000-seater, Orange County [can] rejoice, because it will be fantastic.”

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Judy Silber can be reached at (714) 966-5988.