Performing Arts Center Receives $3 Million

The Orange County Performing Arts Center on Monday announced it has received a $3-million grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

Half the money will be used for the construction of the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater. The remainder will go toward the establishment of an endowment fund supporting the center’s new education center, officials said.

“With the opening of our expanded facilities in 2006,” board Chairman Paul F. Folino said, “the center will be able to increase these [educational] programs throughout California and, as a result, its contribution to the educational and cultural experiences [of] young people.”

Established in 1937 by James Irvine, whose 110,000-acre Orange County ranch was among the largest private land holdings in California, the James Irvine Foundation has assets of more than $1 billion.

Previous grant recipients include the California Institute for the Arts in Valencia, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, the Los Angeles Opera and the Pasadena-based Armory Center for the Arts.