LOMPOC, Calif. - Along with a deteriorating roof, the Lompoc Theater is in a complicated process of changing ownership. The city of Lompoc is in the midst of claiming the building. But many steps remain before the theater is ready for it's debut performance.
Not only are there a lot of steps to be taken regarding the city gaining ownership, but there's also plenty of work to be done to the building itself.
Despite a long road ahead, Lompoc Mayor John Linn jokingly said, "I still see a light at the end of the tunnel and I don't think it's a train."
Despite the long process that revitalizing the Lompoc Theater has been, Linn sees progress. At this week's city council meeting, the city agreed to hire a structural engineer to determine what needs to be done to fix a deteriorating roof. Inspectors determined the roof needed to be removed completely.
Craig Dierling, Lompoc Senior Civil Engineer, says, "based on interior conditions of past water damage, it looks like it has failed for many years and let water into the building."
Dierling said he had concerns the roof would even hold workers on it. And according to Dierling, water damage from the leaky roof has made additional structural strengthening a necessity.
Brian Cole, the head of a grassroots effort to bring the theater back, says the step to fixing the roof and damage to the building is an important step to take.
"It's not dead in the water anymore. Things are moving forward," says Cole. "It's been a long time, but let's just keep the faith."
While the city takes the necessary steps outlined by the state to take ownership of the theater from the previous owners, Cole and his supporters are waiting eagerly.
"Right now we are waiting for that change of ownership to take place to become more active in partnership with the city," says Cole.
Mayor Linn says the preliminary estimate to remove the roof could be somewhere around $150,000. If the structural engineer finds more damage to the buildings structure, he says it could be a lot more. The structural engineer will look at the building in the next 30 to 60 days and give a report back to the city.
