Tivoli Terrace lease uncertain

The future of a well-known Laguna Beach wedding venue remains in jeopardy as officials from Tivoli Terrace and the Festival of Arts continue discussing a possible lease extension after a decades-long association, Tivoli manager Virgilio Gentile said Wednesday.

Tivoli subleases space from the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters, but its current lease will expire Sept. 14, Gentile said. Tivoli, owned by June Neptune, has hosted a range of special occasions, from birthday parties and memorial services to meetings and dinners for organizations such as the Laguna Canyon Conservancy.

Residents have expressed concern over the lease negotiations at City Council meetings, and supporters started an online petition that tallied 930 signatures as of Thursday.

“There are some restrictions we are not comfortable with,” Gentile said, declining to be specific. “We’re asking for clarity with some items on the lease.”

Festival of Arts marketing and public relations Director Sharbie Higuchi would only say, “We are in discussions with Tivoli.”

“Tivoli has hosted so many events for groups that were in need of support, and now is the time for our community to help her in her time of need,” Irvine resident Ryan Neptune, June’s grandson, wrote on the online petition website. “My entire life, Tivoli has been a part of it, and if it were to close now, it would be a huge loss for not only me but so many others.”

The venue, which opened in 1971, also hosted fundraisers to save the Laguna Art Museum in the mid-1990s, Gene Felder, a Laguna Canyon Conservancy board member, wrote in a letter to the Coastline Pilot.

The corporation that owns Tivoli Terrace also operates Tivoli Too, across Laguna Canyon Road on the Art-A-Faire grounds, and Hacienda in Santa Ana, also a popular wedding venue.

“Tivoli Terrace has been a great member of the Laguna Beach community for many years and should stay,” Felder wrote.