Staging a Comeback

The opening of a new community theater in downtown Newhall tonight may also be the opening act for revitalization of the area.

Santa Clarita leaders hope the Canyon Theatre Guild’s new venue will spark a redevelopment of Old Town Newhall into a shopping and entertainment destination, similar--albeit on a smaller scale--to those in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

Newhall was the Santa Clarita Valley’s main business district for more than a century. But abandoned by customers over the last two decades, the downtown area evolved into a mishmash of small stores and auto repair shops. Luring a variety of businesses back to the area is key to redevelopment, officials say. But the businesses won’t come unless new customers are being drawn to Newhall, which is part of the city of Santa Clarita.

City leaders hope that the Guild--along with the Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre set to open March 2 down the block--will help provide that draw.

“We look at [Canyon Theatre Guild] as a major player and a draw to the area,” said Alex Vasquez, an economic development assistant for the city. “It introduces a new venue to the business district and it has a strong following.”

Lani Lott of Burnes Consulting, the firm Santa Clarita hired to oversee redevelopment of Old Town Newhall, echoed his sentiments, calling the theater “a spark of new excitement.”

“It shows there’s interest in this district that helps grow new business,” she said. “I think we would start seeing a lot of progress within three to five years. In 10 years, it’ll be humming down here.”

Theater Troupe Is Area’s Oldest

Established 30 years ago, the Canyon Theatre Guild is the Santa Clarita Valley’s oldest theater troupe. Some 250 volunteers are actively involved in year-round productions.

Last season, 14,000 people attended the Guild’s performances in its old theater--a remote, rented space on Sierra Highway at the edge of Angeles National Forest, said Tim Ben Boydston, the company’s artistic director and director of operations and its only paid, full-time employee.

“Now those people will be coming here, and hopefully more,” Boydston said. “This is an organization [city officials] believe will bring people to the downtown area.”

Boydston described the new theater as “the culmination of an incredible dream . . ., like something you’d find in a Colorado mountain town like the Tabor Grand Opera in Leadville, Colo.

“In those little towns when the population grew large enough they would build a grand theater, and the theater represented a meeting place. So our design is appealing architecturally as well as historically.”

The Guild bought and renovated the property at 24242 San Fernando Road for $1.2 million. Its new theater has a capacity of 288--about 100 more seats than its former venue. The front of the new building has a “western/Victorian” design, conforming to the redevelopment area’s facade program requirements that building fronts be western, Spanish or Victorian in design.

Boydston described the theater building as a “recycled space.” Built in the late 1940s, it was a furniture store and later an auto parts store. It was red-tagged and abandoned after the Northridge earthquake and for several years thereafter was occupied by derelicts, he said.

Another smaller building on the property, built in 1929 as a substation for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, will be used for theater offices and costume storage. As testament to the building’s past, a security door leading to the old holding cells is still locked because no one can find the key.

The city contributed more than $400,000 in arts and redevelopment grants to the Guild project and $150,000 to the Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre’s renovation.

District Expected to Lure Businesses

Lott said the new theater district should not only be a boon to nearby El Trocadero restaurant, but also will probably draw interest from other restaurants and coffee shops because “businesses like to cluster together.”

Lott noted, however, that generating night life with theaters and restaurants is only part of the redevelopment goal for the area bordered roughly by 11th Street on the north, William S. Hart Park on the south, Newhall Avenue and San Fernando Road on the west and Pine Street on the east.

“You also have to make it function for the surrounding community,” she said. “You’ve got to try for a balance so that it’s not just night life or just shopping. People live here and rely on their neighborhood stores. You’ve got some really strong, unique businesses here. Downtown Newhall is kind of like a little gem in the rough.”

The Guild’s first production in its new facility is “Scrooge: The Stingiest Man in Town,” which opens at 8 p.m. today and continues on weekends through Dec. 23. Other productions this season will include “Pinocchio,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Destry Rides Again,” which will run in conjunction with Santa Clarita’s annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival in the spring. For more information, call (661) 298-0058.