Art Lover Saw Gem in 1924 Relic

Art lover Don Cribb gazed at the abandoned brick building in downtown Santa Ana--past the rats, trash, broken glass and water damage.

He saw the once-splendid Grand Central Building and envisioned the 1924 architectural treasure as a jewel in the crown of a vibrant city arts scene.

“I felt I had discovered a Duesenberg that could be brought back to life and celebrated,” said Cribb, 52, a Santa Ana resident who loves cars as much as architecture.

Seven years and $7.2 million later, the block-long Grand Central Art Center on Broadway and 2nd Street houses three art galleries, a theater, classrooms, graduate student dorms and a cafe. It’s the focus of the Santa Ana Artists Village, a thriving arts hub and Cribb’s brainchild.

During his 20s, Cribb had his finger on the pulse of the modern art world, jetting among Los Angeles, New York and London, rubbing shoulders with David Hockney, Andy Warhol and other artists.

“I’d gone out and had all these adventures in the art scene in Los Angeles and New York and saw how much artists contribute to a community. I wanted to bring it back and share it with my hometown,” Cribb said.

“I thought there was only one opportunity left--the golden plum--to save the town from irrelevance,” he added.

As the county seat with an aging urban core, Santa Ana might once have seemed an unlikely place for a thriving arts community. But the proximity of the Bowers Museum, the gentrification of some of its older neighborhoods and a civic leadership eager to renew its downtown all converged to make it a city of promise.

And Cribb’s vision of a local art scene is now, in some ways, becoming a reality. Vacant storefronts, boarded-up windows, drugs and gangs have dramatically declined.

The city has spent more than $11 million in and around the center. Monthly art walks attract 1,000 or more visitors who hop among 50 galleries and attend shows at theaters in the village, one named for Cribb.

“The idea that this could happen seemed incredibly farfetched,” said Mike McGee, who works at Grand Central as a project facilitator of exhibitions and at Cal State Fullerton as director of its main art gallery.

“I really thought the project would fail a couple of times, until it finally happened,” McGee said, citing high renovation costs, which doubled initial estimates.

It’s been an uphill battle. But Cribb, the 6-foot descendant of an English bare-knuckle boxing champion, has never been known to shy away from a fight.

For many years, he held no official city job title. He simply approached City Hall again and again as a concerned, disgruntled resident.

“The more they dissuaded me from getting involved, the more I realized I had to get involved,” he said.

Since the 1980s, he has been working behind the scenes to persuade others to get on board. He spent hours at then-Councilman, now-Mayor Miguel Pulido’s muffler shop, convincing him that the arts were key to revitalizing downtown.

He invited council members for countless espressos, lobbying them to commit funds. He awoke at the crack of dawn to make telephone calls to New York and Europe to promote the area. He has given personal tours to prospective homeowners, artists and civic leaders to showcase the city.

“He seems like a neighborhood association wrapped up in one person,” City Manager David N. Ream said.

In 1986, Cribb went to Ream.

“When Don approaches the city with an idea, it’s always critically important and it’s the biggest and the best, and it needs to be done immediately. But that’s not how city governments work,” said Ream, who has often rejected Cribb’s ideas.

Turning downtown around has been a jaunty ride, and Cribb’s thorny personality didn’t smooth many bumps. He has protested such projects as a fast-food restaurant in a residential neighborhood. He has threatened to reject a live-work project because he disagreed with its name. He has stormed out of meetings.

“I’m not driven by familiarity; I’m driven by differences,” he said. Critics and admirers alike describe him as irascible, aggressive, offensive, persistent and passionate. They say that’s why he gets results.

“The city’s arts agenda wouldn’t be where it is today if he had been a milquetoast,” McGee said. “Don has been so urgent with his agenda that there are people who are offended by him. He can be incredibly persistent, to the point that he will wear people down.”

“The guy just loves Santa Ana. He’s a true believer in the city’s future,” Ream said.

Cribb’s current Santa Ana projects are to develop live/work studios, an urban corridor near the 55 Freeway and a design district along Grand Avenue.

Over the years, his reputation at City Hall gradually changed from troublemaking gadfly to respected advocate.

His finds inspiration in his great-great-great-grandfather, Tom Cribb, who held the bare-fisted boxing title for 12 years and retired undefeated.

“Perseverance,” Cribb said. “I thank him for that.”