New theater graces Old Town Temecula in 2005

By: Deirdre Newman - Staff Writer | Saturday, December 31, 2005 9:00 PM PST ∞

TEMECULA ---- The skyline of Old Town as well as its appeal as a destination was dramatically altered in October when the new community theater opened with great fanfare.

Local theater aficionados can now head to Old Town Temecula Community Theater on Main Street to take in performances such as a play, concert or musical.

Already, the theater is a smashing success, Patron Services Coordinator Bea Barnett said.

"In the past three months, we have had just shy of 10,000 patrons, " Barnett said. "It's just surpassed the expectations that I personally had."

The theater opening was the culmination of the efforts of visionaries such as local businessmen Dan Stephenson and Harry Clark and six years of fundraising by the Theatre Foundation, a nonprofit group organized in 1999 to jump-start efforts to build the theater.

The opening was so eagerly anticipated, the city hosted a six-day celebration in October. Attendees said they were blown away when they finally saw the finished product, with its 68-foot-tall peak and cedar exterior with galvanized sheet-metal trim. The corrugated metal on the roof is reminiscent of architecture in older times.

"It's fabulous," Grace Mellman, president of Friends of the Temecula Library, said on opening night "It's beyond my wildest expectations. I'm thrilled and I haven't even been inside yet."

The $11 million theater auditorium on Main Street contains 358 seats and an orchestra pit that can be raised to enlarge the stage. There is an intimate "bistro" area in the historical Mercantile building next to it, as well as a box office and art gallery.

The theater was built with the generous help of the community, which enabled the Theatre Foundation to raise $1 million. It was built so local performing groups such as the Temecula Valley Players and the Temecula Vintage Singers have a permanent home.

The theater has been used by a variety of performers so far, Barnett said.

"We've had every age group and every level from professionals to amateurs on stage and the community has embraced the theater," she said. "We have high hopes for many more years of culture, arts and education for the future."

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