History has it that Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to view the Pacific Ocean, a feat accomplished by hiking across the Isthmus of Panama in 1513. That was nearly 30 years before Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, credited with the discovery of California, sailed into San Diego Bay somewhere near the present-day Cabrillo Monument.
Among an abundance of San Diego buildings, bridges, schools and freeways named for one or the other of these conquistadores is the Balboa Theatre, opened as Teatro Balboa in 1924. Originally a vaudeville house, the Balboa was later converted for sound movies, used to house outward-bound servicemen during World War II, and ” after being rescued from demolition to make way for a parking lot ” fell upon hard times as a B-movie house.
Closed as a cinema in the 1980s, the Balboa was obtained through condemnation by the city of San Diego in 1986. The exterior and interior both were listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1996, and though the city entertained numerous plans for reuse, nothing worked out.
In 2002 Center City Development Corporation (CCDC) and the San Diego City Council decided to restore the theater as a public asset and performing arts venue.
In mid-January, $26.5 million and six years later, the newly revived and restored Balboa Theatre, a knockout midsize venue, at 868 Fourth Ave. that seats 1,339 and is said to be acoustically superior, reopened to the public with a series of free events. The interior colors may seem garishly modern, but they are historically accurate. The old theater was never repainted till now.
In addition to respecting the historic colors, fabric and finishes of the original theater ” including restoration of the remarkable waterfalls on either side of the proscenium “” the renovation included bringing the building up to current standards and codes of seismic retrofit, electrical and plumbing, heating and air conditioning. Backstage, the dressing rooms, orchestra pit, theatrical rigging and lighting systems were updated.
In addition, the theater has everything required for audience comfort on every level (the seats are commodious, the legroom ample), and there is a new box office on Fourth Avenue that sells tickets to attractions at both the Balboa and Civic theaters, managed and maintained by the nonprofit San Diego Theatres (President and CEO, Don Telford, Web site www.sdcivic.org), which has moved its administrative offices to the Balboa.
Installation of a pipe organ to replace the one moved to Copley Symphony Hall is expected sometime this spring, according to Telford. The organ is a project of the Balboa Theatre Foundation, which will maintain the instrument and determine who plays it.
It was difficult to assess the acoustics at the Jan. 11 public event because the entertainment, fully amplified, was a mariachi band.
However, Mainly Mozart Executive Director Nancy Laturno Bojanic is so excited about the theater’s acoustics that she will produce that organization’s 20th annual Mainly Mozart Festival there in June, to be kicked off Tuesday, June 10 with pianist John Lill, who performs all five Beethoven concertos (www.mainlymozart.org or 619-239-0100).
Asked to confirm the persistent rumor that elephants trod the Balboa stage, Telford said, “I don’t know where they got that.”
So we can call that a very pleasant urban legend?
“Yes,” he said, “an urban legend that may or may not be true.
“The Balboa Theatre really provides a new venue that can service the local community,” Telford said, ticking off a list of nonprofits that includes Classics for Kids, California Ballet and the San Diego Men’s Chorus.
Meanwhile outside bookings include, most notably “” and proof of the acoustical pudding “” preeminent Brazilian guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad.
The Balboa Theatre is located at 868 4th Ave. at E Street, www.sdbalboa.org or (619/858/ 760) 570-1100.
Free parking at Horton Plaza parking garage.
