The Santa Clarita City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of three addresses on Main Street, which was discussed as a potential replacement theater site.
The sale of the properties at 24318-24322 Main St. were described by Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Striplin as “one of the opportunities” the city has identified as a replacement for The Main theater, which burned down on Aug. 24.
Striplin said the city offered the property owners, Carl and Jeri Seratti-Goldman, co-owners of the local radio station that was previously housed on the property, $200,000 above the city’s independent appraisal, which came in at $1.7 million.
The City Council approved the purchase with a 4-0 vote. Councilman Jason Gibbs was absent from Tueday’s meeting.
In the council’s report, it stated that while the proposed price exceeds the appraised market value, “the city’s interest in acquiring the property considers factors beyond its existing commercial value,” according to a city report on the purchase. “These include its location within the Arts and Entertainment District, the limited availability of suitable properties in the immediate vicinity and the opportunity to secure a site for potential future public use following the loss of The Main.”
The theater community, which had several different acting troupes represented in public comment, exhorted the city to think bigger and to give the community’s thespians a seat at the table. Several lamented the new space isn’t big enough for local theater ambitions.
Councilman Bill Miranda said the proposition put him in a very difficult position, as someone who wanted to support the arts.
While he wanted to do something quickly to address the hole that The Main left in the community, he also said, “What’s the hurry?” Regardless of what land the city purchased, it’s going to take three, four or five years to replace The Main, he added. He likened the purchase to a single, when the city had an opportunity to hit a home run.
“I’d rather save that money and have a project that’s ‘a bridge to the future,’” he said, adding one building is not enough. “I want something bigger. I want something better.”
He also said he didn’t like the idea of buying a property unless there was a good plan for its use, and the feedback from the arts community was somewhat mixed.
Patsy Ayala, who appointed Jeri Seratti-Goldman to the city’s Arts Commission last year, supported the idea.
“We expected this investment? No,” she said, thanking the members of the performing arts community that reached out to her with “mixed opinions” about the idea.
She said it was the right place, but she had some questions, like the capacity for a theater at the new spot.
Tracy Sullivan, interim assistant to the city manager, reported that the city could only give square footage at this point. The Main had an area of 3,200 square feet; the three addresses the city under consideration came in at 5,400 square feet.
Stirplin acknowledged Miranda’s concern about the potential unknowns; but the property would provide options the city doesn’t currently have, as a renter of the former Main space, which is already rumored to be going on the market. The owner, Frank Maga, has not responded to a request for comment on his property.
The purchase could be “an investment to get a foothold in that location,” Striplin said.
“As you know, the project next door … has not moved forward, and there’s financial issues associated with that,” he said, referring to The Hartwell mixed-use project, which has stalled amid concerns with the difficulty in financing the construction, and is now up for sale separately.
“I know that there’s different concepts that the council will be able to evaluate. Whether it’s looking at building ‘The Main 2,’ so to speak, and just the building that purchase,” he said. “Is there an opportunity to work with the neighboring property and do something larger that’s integrated into a project? That’s also something the council could look at. So I think those are options that that are available to the council should they purchase the property.”
Councilwoman Marsha McLean said she 100% supported the recommendation of the purchase and sale, in making the motion for approval.
Mayor Laurene Weste said the move doesn’t mean the city can’t pursue a bigger option later, but this is an option on the table now.
“Whether your theater is large or small, it’s the quality of the performers,“ Weste said, acknowledging that this process has been “very fast,” especially for a government.
“Doing this doesn’t mean we can’t do more,” she said.
The community feedback Tuesday shared concern about the city looking to find a replacement for The Main that might not be bigger than The Main.
Jeremy Thompson, a former employee of The Main, said just before the fire, the crew from a recent production was talking about how the theater community had kind of outgrown The Main, a sentiment several have shared.
“We don’t necessarily need The Main, we need ‘The Bridge,’” said Thompson, who also said sequels are usually not better, with a noted exception for “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
TimBen Boydston, a former councilman and the executive director of the Canyon Theatre Guild, which took on a number of Main productions after the fire, encouraged the council to approve the purchase of the property and bring on a “Main 2” to help keep the arts district alive in Newhall, which has been a longtime city goal.
Several also asked for the city to give its performers a voice on the construction of its next theater, wherever the actual location ends up being.
Phil Lantis, the city’s former events manager who also has extensive theater experience, co-founding the Eclipse Theatre L.A. with his wife, Nancy, also teased a plan that’s in the works with several theater groups, which could address several of the requests made Tuesday.
He called the Main Street purchase a “key first step” in making that plan a reality.
“Several theater organization representatives and arts advocates have been working together to develop a concept plan that will show how the crucial action you are taking this evening can be instrumental in imagining a larger venue that not only serves the needs of the theater community but also supports music, dance and the visual arts,” he said Tuesday. “We look forward to sharing this concept plan in the very near future. I and many of my fellow artists from all different art forms are ready and willing to work with the city to help bring the dream of a community art center in Old Town Newhall to life.”
