Local : Performing Arts Expansion Urged

A new survey for the Orange County Performing Arts Center recommends that board members consider building up to three new theaters, ranging from a drama theater for 650 or more to a concert hall with up to 2,500 seats.

The study, prepared by Harrison Price Co. of Torrance and released this morning, found that the center’s 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall is operating at or near capacity.

“The best way to relieve pressure on Segerstrom (Hall) is to construct a concert hall” at a cost of about $70 million, the study says, although “a lesser-quality concert hall . . . could be built for as low as $40-45 million.”

A drawback to the proposal, the study says, is that land next to the center is too small to accommodate such a hall, requiring construction at a different site.