Victoria Hall Theater, 33 W. Victoria St., closed this week after a building inspection report revealed that the 88-year-old theater needed significant seismic upgrades. But what seems like a straightforward safety issue is steeped in controversy.
The building is collectively owned by the nonprofits Unity Shoppe, Child Abuse Listening and Meditation (CALM) and Retired Senior Volunteer Program, with the hall — or theater — portion of the building occasionally rented out for films and other community events. Decisions about its use are governed by an eight-member building council.
Last fall, the council voted to approve a 30-year lease to Ensemble Theatre Company, which wanted to begin a significant renovation to get the building ready for its operations.
Although it was outvoted by the other members of the building council, Unity Shoppe expressed concern that the long-term lease offered to Ensemble Theatre would impact its use of the building. Based on the renovations it had called for — including changing the floor slope and seating configuration of the theater and creating more wing and backstage space — Unity Shoppe operations manager Barbara Tellefson alleged that not only would the renovation cost as much as $7 million, but it would render the hall useless for the annual telethon and Unity Shoppe’s other fundraisers.
“There are a lot of functions we use the hall for,” Tellefson said. “CALM and RSVP outvoted us, but we want to be able to use our building.”
Arbitration resulted to determine the legitimacy of the council’s decision — which Tellefson said is outlined in the agreement forged with the other two owners when they purchased the building in 1988. When Ensemble Theatre commissioned a building inspection to gauge the extent of renovations required, the study found the building to be unsafe, leading to its closure.
Ensemble Theatre has maintained that it plans to ensure access to Unity Shoppe — in particular, during its end-of-year fundraiser — and that it plans to make the building safe so the building can continue serving as a community resource.
“Unity is unhappy with the lease agreement that was approved because they’re worried our renovations will impact their end-of-year telethon,” said Derek Westen, a past president of Ensemble Theatre who serves on the theater company’s board of directors. “The building council bent over backward to make sure that their interests were protected.”
Unity Shoppe’s leadership isn’t so sure, and Tellefson said they had envisioned leasing to be more occasional than the type of contract signed with Ensemble Theatre. She said Unity Shoppe wanted more time to study the building inspection report before a closure occurred, an occurrence she said could affect the organization’s operations.
“Unity Shoppe is the largest direct distributor of food, clothing and basic necessities in the county of Santa Barbara,” said Tellefson, adding that Unity Shoppe has offered to pay to the other owners the fee Ensemble Theatre would pay to use the building. At $27,000 per year, she said the $1 million in revenue Unity Shoppe would lose by not being able to use the hall doesn’t make the deal seem worth it. “This affects the 22,000 people we help.”
Westen was optimistic that the arbitration would be decided in favor of the building council, allowing what he called a “win-win-win” situation in which Ensemble Theatre would complete what he said will be about $5.1 million of renovations at its own expense, $600,000 of which would be dedicated to the seismic upgrade.
“We think this will be wonderful for Santa Barbara,” he said.
Tellefson has been adamant that allowing Ensemble Theatre to lease the building for 30 years is similar to selling it.
“What happens to all of the people who are using this building now if they are allowed to change it so much?” she asked. “We wanted this to be a community resource, and want to be able to use the building we own.”
In the basement of Victoria Hall, scores of blankets, cans of food and other supplies used to aid needy people are stored. Across the parking lot, Unity Shoppe owns a building fronting State Street where a distribution center — set up like a supermarket — occupies the same building as a retail thrift store. The location, Tellefson said, makes it possible for Unity Shoppe’s many volunteers to sort and distribute food and clothing for people who need it.
“It’s still our property,” Tellefson said. “We fought so hard to buy (Victoria Hall) 22 years ago, and I never thought we’d have to fight for it again.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Ben Preston can be reached at bpreston@noozhawk.com.