Theater Foundation director out

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Michele Roberge, executive director of the Balboa

Performing Arts Theater Foundation and a leading crusader to rebuild the

Balboa Theater, no longer works for the organization.

Roberge said she was terminated Friday from the position she held

since July 1, 1999. Although she did not go into details of Friday’s

events, she said her dream of seeing the historic theater renovated is

unchanged by the move.

“The Balboa Theater renovation project remains a wonderful, exciting

addition to Balboa Peninsula, and it can be the centerpiece of a

wonderful new village,” Roberge said Wednesday.

The move came on the heels of a statement Roberge made to the City

Council in favor of a luxury resort planned for the Marinapark site.

Speaking on behalf of a business association, Roberge told council

members at their Jan. 22 meeting that she supported the controversial

147-room resort.

Neither Roberge nor foundation President Dayna Pettit would confirm

there was any connection between Roberge’s departure and the Jan. 22

comments.

“She has been a great cheerleader for the foundation and has done

great things for the theater,” Pettit said. “We wish her well.”

Roberge and Pettit have comprised the driving force behind restoring

the 1927 vaudeville house into a showcase for dance, theater, live music

and even film. The theater at 707 E. Balboa Blvd. has been vacant since

1992, when it was last used as a movie house.

In the last few years, the foundation has suffered and tackled a

series of setbacks. The biggest handicap has been money. Late last year,

foundation members estimated they were still about $4 million short of

the $6.5 million needed to transform the decrepit structure and get it up

to safety standards.

Other less costly but more annoying problems have also plagued them,

such as the discovery that they couldn’t remove a wall of the theater

because neighboring businesses’ electrical equipment was built into the

wall.

Pettit said the foundation is interviewing candidates for a

replacement for Roberge.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .