New Foundation for O.C. Arts

These are groundbreaking times, literally, for Orange County performing arts and cultural institutions.

On May 22, the Balboa Performing Arts Theater will break ground in a symbolic gesture meant to spur donations for a struggling project that remains millions of dollars short of being realized.

On July 25, South Coast Repertory will break ground in earnest. Construction, amply funded by an ongoing capital campaign, will begin soon thereafter on a 336-seat second theater to complement the existing Mainstage.

Others, notably the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Laguna Playhouse and the Discovery Science Center, have made tangible strides toward realizing their expansion dreams but remain millions of dollars short of putting the hard hats to work.

And several more organizations, feeling cramped and restless in venues they deem inadequate, are still brainstorming over how and when to make their moves.

Here, at a glance, is a survey of brick-and-mortar visions on the O.C. arts and cultural scene, along with some that are just being conceived.

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Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa

Goal: Build a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 500-seat all-purpose auditorium and an outdoor plaza.

Why: Officials say the existing 3,000-seat hall is overbooked. Moving symphonic performances to a new, acoustically superior auditorium would free dates for expanded seasons of Broadway musicals, opera, jazz and pop concerts.

How much: $200 million, all to be raised from private sources.

Progress to date: $80 million raised since summer 1999.

Remaining to be done: Raise the rest of the money--$120 million if estimates hold.

Current fiscal status: $30-million annual operating budget and $22-million endowment.

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South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa

Goal: Build a 336-seat Second Stage to complement the existing, 507-seat Mainstage. Convert the 161-seat Second Stage into a 99-seat workshop studio for developing plays. Unify the three theaters architecturally with a single, glassed-in lobby.

Why: The current Second Stage can’t accommodate elaborate set designs or substantial scenery changes, limiting the kinds of plays that can be done. The addition will buy South Coast greater creative freedom, permitting more larger-scale plays with better production values. The new space also will house a children’s theater initiative of three professionally mounted plays annually.

How much: $40 million--$19 million for construction, $11 million to boost the endowment and $10 million to help meet ongoing operating costs over five years.

Progress to date: $22.6 million raised since December 1998.

Remaining to be done: Raise the remaining $17.4 million called for in the campaign.

Current fiscal status: $8-million annual operating budget and $15-million endowment.

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Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Beach

Goal: Build a 225-seat second stage to complement the 420-seat Moulton Theater.

Why: The chance to do more plays and take more artistic chances. Expand family-oriented offerings.

How much: No estimate yet.

Progress to date: $3.1-million acquisition in 1998 of an ideally situated property--an office complex next to the Moulton Theater in downtown Laguna Beach. Theater officials are keeping mum about how much they have raised so far to remodel the building as a theater.

Remaining to be done: Raise the money and build the theater.

Current fiscal status: $4-million annual operating budget and $250,000 endowment.

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Balboa Performing Arts Theater, Newport Beach

Goal: Renovate the Balboa Theater, a 1927-vintage vaudeville house that has been empty since 1992, as a 350-seat performance center for music, plays, dance, and classic and art-house film screenings.

Why: Restore and revitalize a landmark building, promote economic growth in downtown Balboa and fill a niche in the county’s performing-arts landscape with a well-appointed, smaller venue.

How much: $6.5 million--$4.2 million for construction, $2.3 million for the first-year operating budget.

Progress to date: $2.4 million raised. Building gutted and seismic retrofit done.

Remaining to be done: Raise $4.1 million and create programming from scratch for new cultural venue.

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Santa Ana Performing Arts and Events Center.

Goal: Upgrade stage and backstage areas in restored 1930-vintage 700- and 250-seat performance halls to meet the needs of contemporary arts presenters.

Why: Privately operated and geared to earn profits, this former Masonic Temple opened in September but so far has not attracted any arts tenants. It has been booked for dances, weddings and business meetings.

How much: Restoration cost was $6 million, according to representatives of owner-developer Michael F. Harrah. The cost to upgrade stage areas has not been determined.

Progress to date: Discussions with the nearby Orange County High School of the Arts about possible use of theaters for its productions. Ongoing negotiations with Limon/Carr Productions of Tustin to provide Broadway musicals and revues for a proposed dinner theater. Both depend on the center’s ability to improve its stages’ technical capabilities.

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Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach

Goal: Build a larger museum at a more central site.

Why: The facility near Fashion Island has a permanent collection of nearly 7,000 works but has exhibition space for only about 200. Size and parking limitations preclude major touring shows that the museum would like to present.

How much: Unknown.

Progress to date: Board has established committees to examine expansion issue. No plans issued or commitments made.

Fiscal status: $3.6-million annual budget and $8.4-million endowment as of March 2000.

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Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana

Goal: Build an exhibition wing and parking structure.

Why: The Bowers wants to continue mounting large, high-impact traveling exhibitions such as its popular ancient Egyptian and Imperial Chinese shows last year. It also lacks the space to adequately display its permanent collection.

Remaining to be done: Buy a two-acre property next to the museum. Cement pending deals with the Smithsonian Institution and the British Museum to borrow parts of their collections on a long-term basis. Design and finance the new wing, costing, according to Bowers President Peter C. Keller’s estimates, $10 million to $15 million for the land and construction.

Current fiscal status: $5.4-million annual budget; no endowment.