A tragic fire Monday wiped out a half-dozen businesses and years of progress developing Main Street, on the eve of the Santa Clarita City Council’s first meeting back from its summer hiatus.
There was no time for staff to re-notice and agendize discussion of what the city can do, due to the state’s public meeting laws.
City Communications Manager Carrie Lujan wrote in a text message Tuesday afternoon, “They will probably share their thoughts during council comments.”
And share they did.
Councilwoman Marsha McLean called for City Manager Ken Striplin to come up with a 10-point plan to rebuild Main Street to what it was Sunday, prior to the fire.
Mayor Pro Tem Patsy Ayala called for three initial steps to be taken right away, revolving around ways the city can support the area and residents can support each other.
Councilman Bill Miranda praised the Canyon Theatre Guild, then mentioned his own nonprofit, the Santa Clarita Arts & Cultural Center Inc., hosted by the Valencia Town Center, as a possible venue.
Councilman Jason Gibbs focused his comments on praising the community’s response and how people have looked to help one another.
Mayor Laurene Weste took the opportunity to remind her fellow council members that Striplin is already doing everything possible “within the law,” also mentioning the constraints from insurance companies and an ongoing investigation.
Striplin, for his part, reviewed what the city has done so far and the more immediate next steps for Main Street’s recovery.
Ayala
Ayala said at Tuesday’s meeting that she had “already shared a draft of what I think we should be doing with three basic steps,” during her council comment, calling it a “pilot recovery plan.”
The first was to ask for financial assistance from every available agency, she said, calling on the area’s congressman, Assembly member, senator and county supervisor for support.
The second was a call for a “Main Street Recovery Team” to make sure the city is a “partner, not another hurdle,” in the rebuilding effort.
“I would like to expedite processes at a dedicated point of contact,” with a team to “coordinate permits, inspections, planning and other city requirements,” she added.
The third point was to call for community involvement, she said.
“We cannot replace everything that was lost, but we can make sure no business, employee, or family affected by this fire has to navigate the recovery alone,” she said, calling for an event at the Newhall Community Center with the Old Town Newhall Association, or OTNA, and any others who wish to be involved, with the goal being to support impacted businesses.
Miranda
Miranda started by praising the community’s remaining theater on Main Street, the Canyon Theatre Guild, as a wonderful place and a big part of the reason why there was a theater district downtown.
He reminded everyone of how integral the performing arts are to the Santa Clarita Valley’s history, dating back to the days when William S. Hart was once the world’s highest-paid movie star, during the silent-film era.
He said this history and the fact that, “We are Santa Clarita,” are reasons why the city needs to work as fast as possible to rebuild.
“We’re not going to take five years,” he said, referring to the rebuilding timeline. “We’re going to do everything we can, everything possible, everything within the law, to fix Santa Clarita, to fix Main Street, to fix the arts and entertainment area here in Santa Clarita.”
He also had some specific ideas he wanted to pitch on how that can be done.
“Well, the first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to provide … all the performers another place, another stage, and maybe several stages in which they can perform. We’re going to work on that,” he said.
He mentioned his own fairly recently formed nonprofit, which had been relatively inactive since its launch in June 2025.
Mosaic, which has an opening planned for next week, now hosts art from Jane Mick at a space inside the Valencia Town Center. Mick lost tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of work that was on display at The Main when the theater burned down Monday. He offered performers a space there to work.
McLean
McLean said she shook her head at the “devastation” on Main Street when she went down to see where the fire had burned out portions of the 24200 block of Main Street.
McLean said her involvement in the Newhall area predated the city’s redevelopment push in the 1990s — she was part of the Downtown Newhall Merchants Association, which incorporated in 1982 and was a predecessor of the Old Town Newhall Association.
Redevelopment agencies received a big push toward making merchants’ Main Street goals a reality in the 1990s, and McLean said that when she was elected mayor in 2002, she asked then-City Manager Ken Pulskamp to create a 10-point plan for the area, which was achieved.
“And I would like to ask the consensus of the City Council not to work individually, but to ask Ken to come up with a 10-point plan like we had before, to bring back what we have lost, and to rebuild the dream that took so long to achieve,” she said.
Miranda said he supported the idea, but he “wouldn’t limit it to the number 10.”
Gibbs
Describing Santa Clarita’s response as a testament of the word “community,” Gibbs said he was impressed by things like the meeting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, which was taking place during the council meeting.
“There is a local group of theater troupes and others who are gravely affected who are all meeting at St. Stephen’s, and they’re coming together to just see how they can help each other,” he said. “They’re not going there just to find out what can they ask for. They’re asking, ‘How can we help you?’ And I think that’s a wonderful thing.”
Weste
The mayor let Striplin explain what the city was already doing before she made her comments, which focused on her belief that the city would come together, to not only support those who lost their businesses, but also to rebuild.
“I have always seen that old saying: As a door closes, a window opens, or the other way around, whichever you want to look at it. But with all of us working together, we will bring this back better than ever, and with your help and support, as we always do in Santa Clarita, we will make sure that people’s lives are bettered and that we get where we need to go,” Weste said.
She also made a suggestion to improve the area’s aesthetic while it’s under construction.
“I know you’ve already fenced it off. So I propose, and I think we only had some discussion about having all the artists come together and paint murals all the way around, depicting our history, our old town, our agrarian life, our scenery of our beautiful, gorgeous mountains and hills, and making a beautiful area to look at while this regeneration comes forth,” Weste said. “And at least in the meantime, we will not be looking at just a fence, so hopefully we can do that.”
Striplin
Striplin said the city jumped into action almost immediately, with TimBen Boydston, leader of the Canyon Theatre Guild, thanking Striplin for his 4:15 a.m. alert about the fire.
“We were out there early (Monday) morning, watching the devastation unfold, and then city staff went into action immediately in partnership with the Sheriff’s Department and the Fire Department,” Striplin said, praising the work of both agencies.
The city has been in “rebuilding and recovery modes since the fire has been put out,” he said, adding that as of Tuesday morning, all the rubble had been leveled on the site, the streets had been pressure-washed and he also mentioned the fencing.
“We’ve talked about how do we assist the business owners that were affected directly by the fire, in terms of looking at, as council member Ayala said, the different potential grants or loan programs that may be out there for businesses that are affected by these types of situations. So, we are looking into those programs. We have been in contact with all of the theater groups.”
He said that was a two-part challenge.
“We have a number of productions and things that were scheduled at The Main between now and the end of the year — that’s our immediate focus, it’s trying to help them secure alternative locations.” He thanked Miranda for his suggestion, but said city staff would likely be reaching out to community partners like Canyon Theatre Guild and the Newhall Family Theatre, and any other “black box”-type venues in the SCV.
“We’ll also be looking long-term. As we know, The Main’s not coming back anytime soon, so we’re going to be looking at what is a potential long-term opportunity to replace The Main, so that the city has that facility available for the arts groups as quickly as possible,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but we’re certainly looking at what those options might include.”
