San Clemente Officials Present Offer to Festival of Arts Board
Hoping to lure away Laguna Beach’s famed Festival of Arts, San Clemente officials said Monday that they have presented the outline of an offer to the festival’s board of directors.
No details of the proposal were released. San Clemente City Manager Michael W. Parness said more information may be available by Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
Parness said the festival’s directors probably will consider the offer at a meeting today, then the City Council would review it Wednesday.
“If they agree to this, it’s a major step forward,” Parness said.
San Clemente has been in talks with festival officials since February. The negotiation period ended Monday.
The city has designated a site at Avenida Vista Hermosa and Avenida La Pata as a potential new home for the festival, which holds its Pageant of the Masters as well as its art shows every summer.
The festival’s lease with Laguna Beach, its home for 68 years, expires in 2001. Directors of the summer event have been squabbling with city officials over how much rent they should pay and how the money should be allocated. The festival now pays about $600,000.
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