Politics & Government

Plans For Downtown Regional Theater in Trouble

A planned 2,000-seat regional theater is now in jeopardy after court ruling to dissolve redevelopment agencies.

Maybe the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and the American Ballet Theatre will never make its way into town to perform.

A planned in downtown Livermore is now in jeopardy after Thursday's state Supreme Court's redevelopment decision, according to a report from the Bay Area News Group.

Thursday morning the California Supreme Court upheld the legislature's vote to dissolve the agency. It also struck down a bill the legislature passed to allow such agencies to continue to exist if they paid part of their revenue to the state.

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"This could have devastating effects on whether (the theater) can ever move forward," said Livermore Mayor John Marchand.

—Paul Thissen, Bay Area News Group reporter

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View the rest of Thissen's report here.

Livermore's redevelopment agency was expected to pay for two-thirds of the $184 million project through tax increments it expects to receive over 30 years.

Other funding for the regional theater was expected to come from waste revenues from the Altamont and Vasco Landfill, facility fees, capital fund raising and operating surpluses, according to a city staff report.

The regional theater project is part of a 2004 agreement between the redevelopment agency, the city and the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center to bring three performing-arts venues to Livermore.

Two projects have been completed: the on Eighth Street and the  downtown.

Officials planned for the regional theater to feature Broadway-type shows that the much smaller Bankhead Theater cannot handle. A city staff report said a regional theater would attract visitors from throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley.

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