Group unveils plans for Ojai theater center

The cheery vision of traveling performers, high school kids, local theater groups and musical extravaganzas taking turns entertaining Ojai's townspeople on modern, technically advanced stages comes closer to fruition with each passing day. So say organizers of the Ojai Performing Arts Theater.

Human catalyst Joan Kemper, architect and city councilman David Bury, Nordhoff music teacher Bill Wagner, and Ojai Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Jim Berube presented plans and goals for the theater, which has turned into a joint venture between performers, townspeople and the district, to the public at the Ojai Playhouse Friday night.

The complex will include a 450-seat main theater and a smaller "black-box theater" that can double as a rehearsal space. The building will also house a scene shop with loading dock, an art court, offices, a lobby area with two gallery spaces and 10 classrooms, which will replace what Bury said he believed were the oldest structures at the school. All areas will be handicapped-accessible.

The main stage will feature a technical booth, lighting equipment and a proscenium stage. An orchestra pit was a late addition not shown on plans revealed to the public. A study allowing the builders to dig deep enough for its inclusion only recently came through, Bury said.

Located on the northeast corner of the campus, the facility will cost about $15 million to build. Kemper said she's seeking endowment funding of $5 million that could be used for many purposes, including discounting student and senior admissions.

She said in a July meeting with the school board that donors will have the opportunity to contribute to the endowment by, for instance, buying naming rights to a seat or dressing room. On Friday she said that all the money for the construction phase will come from "government funds, grants and national foundations."

With an assist from the district. The original organizers, including Kemper and many members of Ojai's larger artistic community, brought their idea to the school board in May, seeking not only their go-ahead but a financial commitment. The board authorized a loan of $300,000 at a July meeting.

Bond money allocated to the district for capital improvements paid for the school district's contribution.

At the July meeting, Kemper said the district would be fully reimbursed. "When we get the final construction funding, well pay it back, from both state and federal sources and miscellaneous grants," Kemper said.
Meanwhile, construction is set to go forward in the near future and completion is scheduled for 2005. Two more public meetings are planned but dates have not been set. But the vision is clear.

"I envision our kids and our teachers on a professional performing arts stage," said Berube to a crowd approaching 85 people at the beginning of Friday's meeting. He said that deals could be in the works for students who make the best use of the facilities and new arts curricula the district plans to implement. Paramount, Disney and Universal, he said, have all expressed interest in providing internships.
Kemper and her partners in the Ojai Performing Arts Theater Foundation also envision the complex as an attraction for talent of both the local and the touring varieties.

In answer to audience queries, she said that the theater would shut down two weeks each year but could be used for performance the other 50 weeks. On average, she said, the community might see three professional shows and, maybe, something from a non-profit another night each week, in addition to student shows.

Details, she said, of how the booking and scheduling will be done, have yet to be worked out entirely. "Finding a good theater manager will be key," she said.

The manager will run things and the foundation will lease the land where the theater sits from the district for 99 years, said Kemper. Several questions from the audience probed at the issue of the sharing of space between kids and professionals.

Said Kemper, "There will be cooperation because we're neighbors."
Other citizens expressed concern about pedestrian safety, parking and traffic congestion and potential conflicts with other school events.
Bury said he believed there would be sufficient parking and that one reason for building on the northeast corner was access to other lots besides those on campus. He also said he didn't expect a big increase in traffic. "I see it as solving a traffic problem," he said, because the theater will save people trips to other outlets in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

As for legislation to prevent the dangers to pedestrians in front of the high school, he said, "I believe that's going to happen whether this theater triggers it or not."

Kemper said many more specifics will be ironed out by the Spring

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news