VIDEO: Playhouse Makes Plea for Funds to Buy Property

Believing that time may be running out for the Camino Real Playhouse, President Tom Scott is launching a campaign to raise money to buy the property from the city.

The nonprofit playhouse was once part of San Juan Capistrano’s redevelopment agency. But when Gov. Brown moved to dismantle the agencies, capturing their funds to pay for other government services, all properties owned by the redevelopment agency were subject to review by an outside oversight committee. Any property found not serving a public purpose was to be sold.

Initially, city officials thought Camino Real Playhouse was safe. And in fact, they’re still waiting on a final determination from the state Department of Finance, said Cathy Salcedo, city spokeswoman.

But Scott isn’t taking any chances.

“Our land is in contention. The city strongly supports us and has taken legal action to protect us, but the state disagrees,” Scott wrote in a letter to supporters.

He expects the debate will continue for a while, and the playhouse will continue to operate as normal, offering plays and hosting children’s workshops.

Still, Scott has launched a public campaign to raise $1.4 million to buy the theater’s property from the city and keep it safe.

The city bought the building about 30 years ago from Pacific Bell Telephone along with a “derelict vacant lot next door,” Scott said. The intention was to spur a major redevelopment with shops, hotels, etc., and the city did come up with just a plan … right before Gov. Brown decided to dissolve the state’s redevelopment agencies.

However, even with the city in the driver’s seat, the playhouse was not in the clear. Had the governor not stepped in, the city’s downtown master plan envisioned a multilevel parking structure at the site of the playhouse and its parking lot.

“Either the state will get the property or the city will get the property, and either way it will probably be considered for development under whatever is the then-current ‘master plan’ for the city,” Scott told his supporters. “Our goal is to raise money, holding it in a ‘designated account’ for as long as it takes so that we will be in a position to be a serious buyer of the land when that opportunity comes about.”