Arts center announces delay to expansion

Young Chang

Saying there’s no need to rush what will likely be here to stay,

officials at the Orange County Performing Arts Center announced this

week that their $200-million expansion will be ready in the fall of

2006, not 2005.

The building of a new 2,000-seat concert hall and a new 500-seat

music theater will take longer than expected, center president Jerry

Mandel said Tuesday.

“A concert hall is an extremely complicated building to build

because not only is it architecturally important, it’s the sound ...

the acoustics are important,” he said. “It’ll take longer to build,

longer to test and longer to finalize than we thought.”

Mandel was quick to add that fund-raising has slowed with the

economy’s prolonged slump, but that the opening of the new facilities

would have been delayed regardless of the center’s fund-raising

status.

The center’s Campaign Committee, formed last July and chaired by

Henry Segerstrom and Roger Kirwan, hopes to raise $30 million in the

next year.

About $100 million has been raised so far and officials hope to

have their total $200 million by 2005 or 2006.

The delayed opening of the center’s facilities will mean not only

more time for building, but more time for the Pacific Symphony

Orchestra to get used to the acoustics in their new home, Mandel

said.

It’s a task that could take three to six months.

“They’ll hear themselves so much differently than they did

before,” he added. “They’ll need to experiment with different things

and sounds.”

John Forsyte, president of the Pacific Symphony, added Tuesday

that he’s actually somewhat “relieved.”

The delay will give the symphony more time to build an endowment

and figure out ways to increase annual fund-raising, as the

1,000-fewer seats in the new hall -- Segerstrom Hall now seats 3,000

-- will decrease the flow of revenue.

“I think the center is being extremely prudent to take their time

to ensure the hall opens when they’re ready to open,” he said.

Forsyte and Mandel cited the barely year-old Verizon Hall in

Philadelphia as an example of what they don’t want happening.

“That opened in December and all the experts said it should’ve

waited six months,” Mandel said.

The center also announced Monday that architect Cesar Pelli’s

designs for the new hall and theater are 100% complete.

With the completion date set back a year, groundbreaking for the

expansion will now take place after the new year, on Jan. 21, instead

of in December as originally intended.

* YOUNG CHANG is the features and arts and entertainment writer.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at

young.chang@latimes.com.