MURRIETA -- Even as blueprints for Murrieta Mesa High School are being drawn and readied for state approval, district officials are pondering whether an idea to double the number of seats in its theater is feasible and affordable.

Current plans call for a 760-seat performing arts center at the campus, slated for construction in the center of the city near the Golden Triangle, an undeveloped commercial hot spot.

Some Murrieta Valley Unified School District trustees said the city lacks a large performing arts venue, and perhaps with the campus' central location it could second as a community theater, holding everything from off-Broadway shows to traveling professional orchestras to large assemblies.

Yet, the district doesn't have the money to revamp plans, which is where the city comes in. So-called joint-use endeavors is a subject slated to be discussed at an upcoming meeting between trustees and the City Council.

The meeting was scheduled for Sept. 26, but was canceled because of scheduling conflicts. It has yet to be rescheduled.

Trustee Kris Thomasian said that when trustees and council members finally do get together, it should provide an interesting discussion on joint-use efforts as well as other endeavors and issues.

"We are entering a new age of cooperation between the school district and the city," Thomasian said. "It's a cooperation that's long overdue. The residents have been looking for both sets of elected officials to be working together."

Temecula city officials and the Temecula Valley Unified School District have partnered on numerous projects to much success, City Councilwoman Maryann Edwards said. For example, the nearly $3 million aquatics center at Chaparral High School was jointly funded by the city and district.

Murrieta Trustee Paul Diffley said the Temecula community also recently came together to build an $11 million auditorium and Pechanga Resort & Casino's venues host professional performances.

It's Murrieta's turn to get on the arts map by giving Murrieta Mesa High's theater about 1,600 seats, enlarging its proscenium and possibly tweaking other elements to create a showcase venue, he said.

It would establish the community as a cultural center, bring more of the arts to students, allow the city and the school to share proceeds from any shows and give students a chance to shadow professionals as part of their academic studies, Diffley said.

Despite an August decision by trustees to keep the high school's plans status quo, Diffley said he feels passionate enough about the issue to keep investigating various options.

"This school is going to be such a gem, especially if it can serve the city," he said. "We have a chance to reach out and join hands with the community and do something wonderful."

While the idea sounds nice, it isn't so simple, school district officials said recently when the issue was raised at the August workshop among trustees and administrators.

For one, developing the school's designs was a joint effort among educators, community members and others. That process took place last year and is largely set in motion with promises made over the school's designs, lighting and traffic circulation effects, officials said.

The theater also may not be able to be enlarged without redesigning parts of the campus and following safety regulations, a costly and timely endeavor in which new blueprints would have to be drawn and submitted to the state, district officials said.

Then there is money. Doubling the seat count could cost as much as $2.8 million and delay the theater's opening a year or more past the high school's scheduled 2009 debut, officials said.

Diffley argues short-term consequence are not insurmountable.

"We are building a school for the next 100 years," he said.

At the August workshop, the idea sparked debate, with Trustee Robin Crist questioning whether it was the school district's role to provide a community theater and Trustee Ken Dickson saying that providing venues to the community is part of being a "good neighbor."

In the end, trustees agreed that without money in hand the process was too far gone to go back to the drawing board. They also agreed to talk to city officials about the idea at the joint meeting.

"We will proceed as we are," board President Margi Wray said. "If we have a windfall in a conversation with the city, we'll come back and weigh the time schedules and added expenses."

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.