Time to complete theater dream

It used to be that the closest Costa Mesa got to national publicity

was when South Coast Plaza was mentioned in ads for high-end stores.

That is no longer true.

Today, with the growth of the Orange County Performing Arts Center

and South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa routinely sits alongside other

major theater venues, including New York, Seattle, Chicago and Los

Angeles. It is not unusual for a show that is making only a handful

of stops to play at the Performing Arts Center.

Last week, Costa Mesa’s rise to prominence in the arts edged a

noticeable step higher with the approval of changes to the Segerstrom

Town Center plan.

This development, which received initial City Council backing in

February 2001, would cement the area as a theater district by adding

a hotel and retail shops to a pedestrian-oriented cultural arts area

that also will showcase the new symphony hall and a museum. It also

will include, as part of the proposal the Planning Commission sent

along to the City Council, Scott’s Seafood, which had been scheduled

for demolition.

The good news from the week will amount to little more than a

promising opening act, however, if city leaders and officials with

the Segerstrom Co. don’t take advantage of the moment and push to get

the downtown theater district built. There has been enough talk and

debate, which has delayed the plans for more than two years. The

city, and the county, deserve a world-class arts center.

The time is right for the City Council to give it to them.