By Khalida Sarwari
Saratoga’s nearly 50-year-old Civic Theater may be getting a facelift. The city is inviting members of the community to share their ideas and vision for the theater at a public forum on July 23.
Anderson-Brule Architects, an architectural and interior design firm that has worked on notable local projects such as San Jose’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library and Notre Dame High School, will hold the meeting to hear from residents, key stakeholders and groups that use the aging facility.
The firm will then create three conceptual plans for the design and construction of the renovated theater: functional, practical and visionary.
The functional plan, also the cheapest, calls for minimal upgrades to the facility and making it 100 percent ADA-compliant. Improvements would be made to the pair of bathrooms in the lobby and the access to the control booth.
The practical plan includes everything from the functional plan plus additional building upgrades. This plan would include ADA projects and some cosmetic improvements, possibly to the lobby floor, dressing rooms and storage area.
Finally, a visionary plan includes everything from the prior two plans but with possible major upgrades to the facility, such as extending the lobby to accommodate larger crowds. This plan, which would be the most expensive of the three, calls for a complete renovation of the building, and possibly tearing down the existing theater and constructing a new structure.
In developing a master plan, Anderson-Brule Architects will also provide general budgetary estimates and a possible phasing plan to implement the components over time. The firm will continue to meet with Saratoga residents, city staff and user groups throughout the concept development process.
Currently, the Civic Theater becomes a council chamber on a weekly basis for the city council and planning commission meetings.
City officials say the layout of the building is “inadequate for chamber purposes” due to the location of the dais on a raised stage, which creates a height separation barrier between the council and the audience, and makes it out of compliance with ADA standards for audience access. What’s more, the screen is placed in a location so that both the council and the audience have difficulty viewing presentations, according to a city staff report.
The venue also serves as a small theater and is utilized by theater-based groups West Valley Light Opera and South Bay Musical Theater about once a year. There are, however, “a number of performance limitations associated with the stage layout, and numerous operational inadequacies, including the lack of an orchestra pit,” according to the city report.
The projected cost of the renovation has not yet been determined, according to Adam Henig, recreation supervisor.
“That won’t be determined until the three phases have been fully explored and presented to council,” he said.
Following the meetings with the community, user groups and the parks and recreation and planning commissions, the final draft of the master plan will be presented to the council on Sept. 18.
The July 23 public forum will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the arts and crafts room of the Joan Pisani Community Center, 19655 Allendale Ave. in Saratoga. Light refreshments will be served.
For additional information about the meeting, contact Saratoga’s recreation director Michael Taylor at 408.868.1250 or mtaylor@saratoga.ca.us.
Saratoga Civic Theater could be getting a facelift, but what would it include?
