Local News in Brief : Council OKs Plan for Cultural Arts Center

Ending a lengthy process to stay within a $10-million budget, the Torrance City Council approved plans for the long-sought Torrance Cultural Arts Center.

The design for a 500-seat theater, community meeting hall, art studio, staff offices and dance and exercise rooms was approved by a 6-1 vote.

The plans were drafted by the firm of Liebhardt, Weston & Associates after the council fired another architectural firm because it designed a center that would have exceeded the $10-million budget by $7 million.

The arts center, to be part of the city’s Civic Center complex, is scheduled for completion in 1991, with ground-breaking in the spring of 1990.

To meet costs, the council in the last six weeks cut several features from the plan, including a $355,000 rehearsal space, a $47,000 meeting room, $138,000 for on-site parking and $215,000 for production equipment in the theater.