Jim Cooper's Orange County; The Performing Arts Center: Building The Dream

This is the grand portal of the Performing Arts Center complex where construction is being completed for the 3000 seat theater. Opera musical theatre ballet symphony then other world that Performing Arts presentations will soon take place here. The celebrated opening will be an October 1986 just about 15 months away. When completed it will create an Orange County one of the most striking an enriching performing arts centers in the world. It's the result of efforts by thousands of Orange County volunteers with great vision and generosity. It's 65 million dollar cost will have been raised entirely through private and corporate giving. I'm Jim Cooper and today I'll examine progress in building that dream of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. This high view gives perspective to the center and surrounding buildings of the complex. The

tall building to the left is the new Center tower. A 21 story office building to become the highest building in Orange County. Behind it is a twelve hundred fifty car parking garage which will also be used for a theater parking. In the foreground to the right is the south coast repertory theater area where joint cultural efforts will be conducted with the center. You know the complex will provide performing arts of national distinction within this 10 acre area near South called Plaza in Costa Mesa. When guests arrive upon the ultimate completion of all construction they will come to the grand portals standing as high as a 12 story building to see it ors a 3000 seat main theater and the 300 seat small black box theater will be finished in October 1996 following by several years will be a third theater of 1000 seats completion efforts are also going on in the sloping arrivals garden area where theatre goers may stroll among exotic greenery displays on their way to performances. I enjoyed a walk into

the future of the center with Dick kits Rowe director of public relations its enormous size and unique architectural form requires several hours of walking among steel girders wires and concrete walls to see the dream coming to life just to the left of the center as you face its front is a long concrete parking building with enough spaces for most of the theater parking made by day. It will be the parking area for the Center tower office building being built by the second company by night. It will provide parking for the center. Additional parking spaces at wherever it will also be provided nearby. This is one of several of the overhanging exteriors and interior lobby areas. They will provide another dimension of aesthetics of the sculptures and garden areas which will highlight the entrants own workers show the great size of the grand portal from the inside area. Granite quarried in Sweden and processed in Karrar Italy will make up the front along with a precast concrete. It will stand one hundred twenty feet above the ground. Even more work

is going on inside the building than outside the theatre itself required 65 million dollars. But the drive is raising a total of eighty five point five million in local giving to include the Endowment for the operation of the complex electrical wiring concrete work welding and hundreds of other skilled construction jobs are being rushed to completion. Even though steel and concrete will make up all of fabrication fireproofing is very important in the work. We rode in the construction workers elevator to the highest level of the theater designed to have four separate levels of seating in a revolutionary design. It will provide extraordinary acoustical benefits while giving maximum sightline views of the stage area from any seat in the house. It was like writing to the top of a great building without interior walls and a great sense of openness to view inward is to see what looks like a maze. Yet the network of steel scaffolding and supports which must remain in place until finishing stages of the theatre the maze of tubular steel stretches from the theater floor to the

ceiling 100 feet above was important to all Orange County as is the fact that the construction is not right on timetable for completion. Perhaps the most dramatic impact comes from walking across the block wide the backstage and stage area from the floor of the stage to the grid. The height is one hundred and ten feet the height of an 11 storey building. The proscenium can be extended to forty two by sixty eight feet larger than most world centers and grand enough in size for the most ambitious opera productions with chariots and horses or elephants in the staging. The state will also accommodate the world's largest symphony orchestras backstage storage areas alone totals sixty four hundred and 10 square feet. A very important facility for set storage for production of big ballet musical theatre or opera performances. This will be the black box theater with 300 seats. It will be used for experimental drama and television productions. It will be completed at the same time as the larger area final plans call for a

third theater with a 1000 C capacity to be built several years after the main theater is fully in operation in a spacious basement is another complex for performers and for all the power facilities of the building. These are the dressing rooms for the stars who are yet to perform for generations of Orange County people. Resources will be available for the largest choruses and huge casts of operas like Aida or musical theatre or the great sets and casts for the world ballet companies. The story of the center must include the tens of thousands of volunteer hours that have gone into the dream and its realisation for the center above all else is a chronicle of commitment of dedication and funds from Orange County people that will be built with private donated funding makes it one of the most unique projects of its kind in the world. The building of the Performing Arts Center is just the beginning of the dream. The fulfillment of the vision is in bringing the best performing arts groups in the world there and making them

available to all the people of Orange County. Jim Cooper for KOCO ATV on the rest of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. But channel 50 television not let me not get to are all deeply involved in the center. William Landis chairman of the board of directors of the Performing Arts Center a board entirely made up of volunteers immediate past president of the board and the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the. Day we came up a little later a year from now the seedings of the oh all great weapon to go commando another one like this. You're right. OK maybe not feeling quite upset like you used to the ends of the Rio stand by please God please.

Smile. And now let's meet our guests who were all very deeply involved in this matter. William Landis chairman of the board of directors of the Performing Arts Center a thirty nine member board entirely made up of volunteers. He's immediate past president of the board. The chairman of the board and chief executive officer of New Port Development Company a firm a real estate advisor developers and managers who had previously chief administrative officer and chairman of the California Institute of the arts. Carol Wilkinson is the chairwoman of the center guild now numbering forty six thousand thirty eight hundred and eighty three members as of today. She started as Irvine area the old year in 1079 then served as first vice chair of membership and assumed her current office in 1903. She and her husband are in the medical

equipment business in Irvine and are interested in various civic projects. Tom Nelson is cochairman along with his wife Marilyn of the area campaign phase for the center campaign. He's president of the airline company Orange County the largest land management and development company. He was formerly assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial development and he's also chairman of the Economic Development Corporation of Orange County. And office executive vice president of the board of directors of the center. She had a civil engineering degree from CAO State San Diego and had been a member of the board for the past six years. Her major role had been in designing support group for the center and its various projects. And I'd like to have each one of you give me from your own perspective how you feel about where we are exactly today. Why don't you give us your assessment of where we are today. Well Jim I think that the center stands obviously on the threshold of another brave new era. We're ready to begin the work on the interiors of the

building. So from a physical point of view we are on schedule. We are on budget and more importantly the growing support from the community gets stronger and stronger every day so I think that from my perspective we have achieved everything that we could hope to achieve at this point in time. Of the 65 million dollar target. Where do we stand with that right now. Well of the 65 million dollars we have raised in absolute gifts and pledges over forty seven million dollars and of the 20 million dollars in endowment funding that we are seeking we are well in excess of 17 million dollars today. That's marvelous. You know one of the comment that I had made is that this is a private giving Foundation giving but I think we should certainly give credit to the city Costa Mesa. And I've been informed that the city of Khowst the Mesa has been very generous and cooperated with the with the ball there's no question without the support and the cooperation of

the city and the officials within that community. It probably would have been very difficult to meet our timing schedules of everybody from the mayor on down through the staff have given us all kinds of support that don't always show up in dollars and cents in the way we're used to thinking of them but they certainly translate into that when you can stay on schedule and get the cooperation that they get and I've heard that if you try to translate all of the media and kind help it would companies like it Nature $100000 alone from a city close to me. Oh I would guess that would be a very modest. And I got to translate and if I had to translate it because without their support cooperation we could have gotten waylaid in our timing and then back could translate very easily into empire outside overruns with the subcontractors. Let's let's go to you Diane but what is your assessment of where we are right now. I'm trying right in with Phil. I'm so pleased to see first of all that we're on time.

And most people want to see much progress though in the next 12 months because the rest the effort the next few months is going to be inside with our interior. But we're probably going into the most exciting phase from this point forward and still hard to believe in 15 minutes it will be opening. I think it's important as you go forward you thirty nine people on the board because of your closeness to the president that you bring all of Orange County along with you capturing your enthusiasm and your leadership. We want to bring in the line Tom from your perspective. Well I think you said I think Jim you've already outlined it in the in saying somehow to try to bring this project all of Orange County Fortunately Maryland I got involved in the area campaign in the early campaign one of its real functions is to really broaden the understanding of the center broadly throughout the county. I must say that over the past six months or so that that campaign has been underway I'm surprised how few people really do understand in depth what this represents to the county and we'll talk about that today.

But also once you have the opportunity to present it to people in the sense of excitement and I think real commitment that they'll bring to it in addition. Your wife Marilyn Then a coworker all the way and she might well be more than a coworker she's actually the co chairman in fact I give her credit is really being the chairman of the. I should mention that yours is a family operation to your wife. Tell us about your wife and her role. Well Jan served last year as president of the angels of the arts one of the support groups that Diane helped assemble with over the past couple of years and now she serves as chairman of that support group. Magid million family operation. Carol understood as of this conversation right now the 46 year olds Thirty eight hundred eighty three members. That's correct Alice about this tremendous network of support. Well we started in one thousand seventy eight. And. As you know we are a fund raising operation for the operational costs at the center. And the first year we were in existence we donated to the center one hundred ninety six

dollars. This year we will be able to donate and well in excess to 450000. I want to repeat that that that's a mouthful of figures. If you started one hundred ninety six dollars that was our first year and I would have may have only been three or four month period what year would that have been in 1978 and this year and how much again we should have approximately four and fifty. How do you keep that. How to get them all fired up. How do you keep 46 year olds fired up about doing all the things that you do to raise you know the enthusiasm is so great now. And I think that we reached a point to maybe six months to a year ago where it was beginning to wane just a little bit but. Because of the marvelous PR that we've gotten. In the last several months it's been great to keep the enthusiasm going and everyone really has just pitched in and out a marvelous job. Four of your forty six involve young people tell us about that. We have four performing arts juniors chapters. They say

their purpose is just to give them some exposure to the arts. They do you know fund raising they are just. Supported by some of the other members within the guild system and we have one in Newport Huntington Harbor mission da Howe and Irvine and the membership I think is close to 400 now. Young people are important. It's important to keep young people involved in this kind of thing as well they're going to be our future audiences and they have not had the opportunity to have the exposure that we really feel that they should have had in this area. So it's a great way to expose them to some of the various disciplines. You know I was so excited about going to this place where it is so excited about that four hour tour that with tickets for all of your staff that I would like to share with our viewers what this is going to look like when October 1st 1086 gets here. So we have a couple pictures now that's going to share with me as with some comments. To look at how this is going to be an opening night this could be opening night here this portal with a

beautiful marble in the front as high as a 12 story building cars driving up letting out their passengers. Tom you want to make a few comments on the way I don't what you expect when we see this opening that I'm sort of looking forward to it very much I guess. Having been born in Orange County and my mother involved in the U.S. it's just tonight I think we're all targeting in our minds to it to be there in a very exciting way. It could be if you want to come in on the opening night feeling that well I think opening night is obviously it's going to be exciting. But I think it's the opening nights that I tend to focus on. And then the opening week then opening my last hurrah that we only have 3000 seats and we have over two million people in the county here you know and it's going to be the series of events to take place in the first month or two months that every night will be as exciting as the other when our viewers saw this construction they didn't get the full value of what is going to look like inside.

So we have another picture that kind of brings us up on the inside. This is the asymmetrical seating which is unique any place in the world. This asymmetrical scenic seating accomplishes as I understand it two great values number one. It will give you tremendous acoustical benefits and number two it will give incredibly good sight lines so that you can make the statement that virtually any seat in the house is a good seat in the house. That's true you want to comment on that. Diane I know you're interested in design and design. Yes we have studied this very carefully and there is a model in Australia that's actually one tenth of the size of this theater. And actually each seat has been tested to ensure that all of the proper acoustics and sound and sight lines are exactly what we promised it to be. And Jim I think it's one of the really unique things too in the theater having when I first heard about that it was really intriguing in this day and said it was really reassuring to hear that this is all modeled and tested in those things. But it's also difficult I think for a lot of people to really

comprehend the innovations that are inherent in the center itself at us all yet at the man in Austria who did the tremendous acoustical research on it very much so and I think that excitement as people understand the needs of what's being what's being built here and it just builds much more of the excitement and the enthusiasm for what will happen. I think the best thing we can do is go to our model here because this is an excellent model and maybe give our viewers. Some kind of insight into what it's going to look like when it's actually open I think this this portal here. Is it true that the that the sculpture garden will be in the area of the portal at the end of this 12 story high that is infrared and they'll have a chance to see the sculpture gardens as well as beautiful sculptures and greenery. Well we already have a Henry Moore that the angels of the arts have donated to the center. And I'm sure there will be many more gifts coming in the next years to come. So it'll be an aesthetic experience just coming and going and well whatever the production is sort of understand this is the stage I was back here that where I said this this grid one hundred ten feet above the

stage you can imagine that it's like this standing inside of the Grand Canyon and looking up toward the ceiling this is the area I understand this will be the avenue of the RTR Avenue of the arts here and this other street up this way will be a town center drop down Center Drive in the Avenue of the arts. Now this building on here this Thai tall building. It's not exactly a part of this internet and nothing being built concurrently with it. And there is ritual in that because of the park and for that building being over here that helps relieve the center of some of the parking expense isn't that true. There's no question about that that parking becomes a major cost item in most centers and we are able to cooperate with the second stream family in signing a lease so that we are provided parking in the off hours at a cost that will be much lower than the US and if we had to build a garage or sell us in advertising and the twelve hundred fifty cars it's an enormous area. However

there be additional parking beside this an aerial additional parking just over here in the and I mean this area here there's a on the from marking a garage in there and that's all there will be within 400 feet of the size of the theater. There will be more than adequate parking for all performances. Even one of the thousands a theater is built and there's performance going on in both theaters. If you have a job not in funding. Tell us about the area campaign phase of the campaign. Well the area picked campaign as I say I did as I said is it is I think a very important part of the campaign it doesn't represent the most significant portion of the dollars and to the progress to date has largely been represented by so many major companies and foundations from across the county and really all of Southern California in many ways of course with the separate from family and their original commitments to it and many other companies our next phase of the campaign though is a Six Million Dollar area campaign. We're 50 percent towards our goal it appears right now which we're very pleased about on the way

to raising that 6 million dollars. We're hopeful that we can see that to close out within the next 30 to 60 days even we have over 100 individual volunteers contacting some 3000 people across the county and beyond that will be then a public phase of the campaign which will be much more of a mass media based portion of the campaign that we were finally made and where everybody can really manage and resolve and give $10 or $25 and he want to do so he can say I had a share and use that. I think if people could have gone through that. It's an enormous engineering challenge as I did they would be fired up about this place. And speaking of being fired up I want to talk about the long haul. We've been talking about the immediate effort now to get the garden off the ground. What about the long haul long after opening day the year that for the second year five years after. Oh I think support we had as far as the support groups are concerned it will be more important and needed more sell even than now.

Certainly there will be many different situations where the additional monies will have to be earned. I want to give a magic phone number Carol because so many people are going to say how can I get involved what can I do. Let's give a magic phone number is anyone want to get involved they want to give money to your drive time or to get involved maybe you open up a checkbook and write a check for that six million given the time of a challenge grant going to have a tax cut I take it that you take it out. Let's give a magic phone number or to kind of Performing Arts Center 5 5 6 2 1 2 1. I'm going to leave that up for another second that's 5 5 6 2 1 2 1 and that's the magic phone numbers of someone want to get involved with the gills. If they want to get involved in the area campaign are maybe going to say what can I do. Make a donation. What would happen if someone called up sometimes. I'm Jane Doe and I live in Boston and I want to do something I would handle a call like that you know we would find the appropriate spot for her. Would you when you have 43 different chapters throughout the county out there so diverse

and we just know that we can find the appropriate spot for anyone who's interested in joining us. There at the Guild instructor guild but this design work I think is marvelous and I'd like to have our people here but what you do to design support groups not design in the theater and I think a group like Guys and Dolls and the Meister singers and what are some of the other decenter 500 which is made up of young men and women under 40 who are professionals. And this other one called Performing Arts fraternity and that is a group that is a men's support group who are young leaders that we've attempted to put together groups that will meet all interest. We do have the center 500 that's going to total about 500 young professional men and women that are interested in the arts. We also have a group of men totaling potentially 200 in the county you know out of one of the red on a midnight all kinds of men. Anyone that's interested in the organization and would like to be part of it part of their contribution to the center

is paying dues rather than fund raising the center 500 will do more fundraising. What would be like to join the center 500 the dues to the center 500 dues. I think about two hundred fifty dollars I earned so that when they paid the initial dues that is their contribution. Well I know this the fraternity is the one where they owe your initial days are down went to fifteen hundred dollars I think. And for that each year they me they support the center or they have special activities and really get that camaraderie going to make it exciting. Diane we have a companion group for women 20 that just have to let you know what it is called the center star center star. And there will be ultimately 300 women that are part of that group and what is it what kind of women are these 300 women. Again women in the community home executives business women anyone that's interested in being a member and then as Jill mentioned we have the Angels which is another group of 100. How interesting. Many people have asked about the affair that they're going to

see. And I'd like to ask what the board policy on that I know we have an excellent group like the Pacific symphony in Orange County the Pacific corral your kind of metric around the neck and local groups who would like to perform as well as the out of time groups the world class performance all over the board policy about board policy on that. We want them all to perform and so we're not going to shut anybody out when you look at it. Nobody's going to be shut out. In fact we're working very diligently now with Tom Kendrick our new Executive Director in trying to put together the first season and we have negotiations going on with what has been termed the world class organizations the New York City Opera American Ballet Theater the Joffrey Ballet the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. But in the JIT Titian to that you know we do have a marvelous symphony here in the Pacific 70 70 mark the south coast Repertory Theatre. That's correct so I'll do that. We have a tremendous reservoir of talent lowered a lot of

magic around Pacific around the all those groups will be playing here they'll have their day on a stage they certainly will because it seems that at the same time that the center has been emerging our cultural groups have been emerging and becoming exceptionally groups of distinction. That's right this is the catalyst that will even bring them to greater heights and greater levels of achievement and. Notoriety so that there will there be a place for all of them the death that the world class symphonies some around the world in our own local We intend that ours will be called World Class is well worth it. And they're they've done so much to earn the right to appear on the stage I think. I don't question what are your vision for the future as we are now 15 months away from completion. What is your fondest hope I'm going to acknowledge that but your immediate priority your highest agenda what would be YOUR LIFE I'M JUST OPEN be the see that we've completed the fundraising by that time obviously and to have it fully committed to and certainly to see as much of that in the form of cash so we can meet the bills that are there are very

expensive in building this and I think we can do that. Now what about your. Well I have to echo Tom's hopes and desires but in addition to that to be able to put together a first year program that brings together opera and light opera symphony and dance. But there are and there's been some people have said that for example a modest bonus I report that there aren't enough people interested in culture and they want more modern things are going to have a plan that would like this definitely will have all different elements and attract all different interests. We want to have a center that for everyone. So you might see Aida there but you might also see a new performance step one I knew would be about your wish you know. Well I just want to be able to continue to be involved I think it's a marvelous project and a wonderful experience. Mark thank you very much. We have to do this all over again another status report in about the you know the eight or nine months from now our time is almost up now and I want to thank our guests and wish them well in

building the dream of Orange County Performing Arts Center. I'm Jim Cooper thanks for being with us.