After more than 30 years of lying dormant, the Padua Hills Theater will soon be brought back to life. The Claremont City Council last week approved a bid by Arteco Partners, developer of The Packing House, to renovate the theater and its surrounding territory.

Arteco has agreed to pump $5 million into the historic structure. The company plans to build 3 bed-and-breakfast style hotel rooms and rebuild the dilapidated theater, which has not hosted performances since 1974.

The entire building will be brought up to today’s modern standards, with new electrical and plumbing systems, restrooms, air conditioning and outdoor landscaping. The structure will also be brought up to code on seismic standards for earthquakes and become fully ADA compliant.

Arteco also plans to install an advanced indoor and outdoor sprinkler and fire break system to protect Padua Hills Theater from a possible disaster. The outdoor sprinklers will be placed in a wide perimeter around the entire structure, protecting it and the surrounding hillsides.

The theater narrowly escaped the 2003 Grand Prix fires that destroyed dozens of neighboring homes in nearby Palmer Canyon.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of if another fire rolls over, it’s a matter of when,” said Jerry Tessier, owner of Arteco Partners.

Arteco will be equal partners in the renovation with Chantrelles Catering, which currently runs special events at the venue. Owner Richard Lindholm has worked at Padua Hills Theater for more than 20 years and is very excited about its future.

“Everyone on board – Claremont Heritage, the city, Arteco Partners, Chantrelles – we all have the same vision,” Mr. Lindholm said. “So I think this is really going to turn out well.” (story continues below)

COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

The soon-to-be renovated Padua Hills Theater is currently on the National Register of Historical Places.

The city, which owns the property, now has to work out the details of a leasing agreement with Arteco and Chantrelles.

The partners beat out bids by 4 other businesses to occupy the theater, including Saffron Catering and Events Services, which came out in full force at Tuesday’s council meeting. Several staff and customers of Saffron spoke out in support of the caterer’s bid to set up a daytime restaurant at the theater.

Linda Rouyer, president of Saffron, said she had approached Mr. Tessier in an effort to partner with Arteco in occupying the building. She said that Saffron would still be interested in Padua Hills if negotiations between the city and Arteco fell through.  

Another voice heard on the future of the theater came from a resident who lives nearby.

“Some of my neighbors have talked to me about noise at 2 in the morning from parties up there,” said Ludd Trozpek, a board member of the Padua Hills Homeowners Association. “I don’t want to necessarily stop that, but you need to realize that it is in a residential area.”  

Mr. Tessier said that he would like to see a regular schedule of events at the theater that are open to the public, including dance classes, indoor and outdoor concert series and gospel Sunday brunches.

The theater could also host musicals, theater performances and choirs. Mr. Lindholm said that the thick concrete walls of the theater allows for loud music and parties without disturbing neighboring residents.

“We want to get the community more involved up here [at the theater],” he said. “We’ve had plans for the last 20 years to do this and hope it will be a success for the community.”

Mr. Lindholm said construction will hopefully begin as early as December 2008 and end 6 months later in May 2009. Since the building is listed on the National Register of Historical Places, extra care needs to be taken throughout the renovation process, he said.