Vallejo’s Mira Theatre needs $2M roof rebuild

VALLEJO – The Mira Theatre is a cultural landmark that has served Vallejo as a volunteer-led arts nonprofit for over 80 years, but it is burdened by a deteriorating roof that requires a costly rebuild to prevent water leaking into the walls and causing both structural and cosmetic damage.

The Beaux Arts Classical Revival former school features a large, well equipped but dilapidated auditorium that seats 164, flanked by two wings that house the restrooms, and several other large rooms that can accommodate smaller events and prop storage. 

The theater is home to community arts groups Verismo Opera, Black Box Radio Stars Productions, Chocolate Rainbow Theater Company, Poetry by the Bay, Vallejo Jazz Jam and the Moon Azteca Dance School and is available for rental, theatrical programming and workshops. 

But an estimated $2 million in roof repairs coupled with the meager reserves of the building owner may mean the theater may not be available for much longer.

The Mira Theatre Guild, which owns the theater, hosted the first of a new series of public conversations to imagine the theater’s future on Sept. 11. Though the meeting touched on issues like future theater programming goals and  the need for paid staff and more volunteers, it was dominated by discussion of theater’s main financial challenge –  the condition of the roofs over the wings. 

The roof was built with rows of dog house-shaped structures large enough to serve as storage sheds that weigh down the roof and present drainage problems. The structures have been covered with roofing tiles, but rainwater pools between them and pours through the ceilings of both wings during storms.

Architect Leslie Scheppelmann assessed the roof and said that the best option to save the building is to remove the dog houses and reframe the roof. The estimated cost of the roof replacement is $2 million.

Scheppelmann said she was pleasantly surprised by what good condition the building is in otherwise, despite decades of water intrusion, thanks to it being built with decay-resistant old growth redwood.

However, the guild isn’t in a position to pay for the repairs. Mira Treasurer Katy Miessner painted a grim picture of the guild’s finances. Miessner said that the guild loses an average of $7,000 every year. Of the $84,000 they have in the bank, $22,000 is from a grant for Chocolate Rainbow Theatre productions and $42,000 is dedicated to the roof. The remaining $20,000 are unrestricted funds that can be applied to the theater’s budget deficit. 

“We might have other performances,” Miessner said. “We might get other grants, but in the current snapshot, we have about three years left until we can't make up that deficit.”

One of the participants in the Q&A session at the end of the meeting wanted to prioritize cosmetic improvements to make the building more attractive for the public. Guild Board President Kat Cook said she shared the concern, but said the board has had to focus on emergency structural repairs, such as replacement of a cracked support beam. “There’s almost more of a demand that we can deal with, with people wanting to get into this space,” Cook said. “But the space also has to be safe. It has to be healthy.”

Another participant pointed out that everything under the roof is at risk until it is fixed, and wanted to make sure that everyone present understood why the roof needs to be prioritized.

Cook acknowledged that at some point the guild needs to seriously look into selling the building. The funds would be retained by the guild, which would continue to exist as a nonprofit, but would be without a home.

“Our primary focus at this point is to save this building as a community art space, and to build it up as a performing arts center, and to build up the guild as a paid administrative organization that can handle the operations and management of this building,” Cook said. “If we can't do that and if we can't fix the roof, there is no alternative but to sell this building.”

 “Mostly, we want to preserve it and keep it,” Cook said. “We're going to have to make a serious effort to raise the funds. That's going to take committees, grant writing, foundational research, all kinds of stuff like that.”

Cook said that one option to save the building would be to form a partnership with another company as a co-owner, that could renovate the building and share the space with the guild. 

Moon Azteca Dance and Art School did this on a smaller scale. Volunteers from the school offset the rent they would have paid for rehearsal space with their labor, transforming  the Dollie Nunn Room into a brand-new dance and arts studio. They celebrated the grand opening on Feb. 27.

Another speaker in the audience suggested forming a coalition of volunteers similar to an earlier group of volunteers known as the “Mira-cle Workers.” 

Cook replied that Mira needs a volunteer coordinator. “It's hard getting volunteers, very hard these days, but it's worth it,” she said. But she said that the organization’s last 70 years as a volunteer organization has proven to be unsustainable. “That's got to change too,” she said. “If we're going to fix the building, the fundamental structure of this organization has to change.”

“Along with the repairing of the building, there has to be a revisioning and a rebuilding of the guild itself into administrative staff that can support the work that is needed to run in this place,” Cook said.

Cook said that as a community space, community input and direction is vital to making serious decisions about the future of the organization and the future of the building.

Board member Shay Miles told the audience that they plan to host a series of similar forums in the future and said they wholeheartedly want community feedback, which can also be submitted via an online survey. “There are currently just five of us on the board right now who are just trying to keep the lights on, and it's time that we really ramp up and start thinking about the future of Vallejo, and the Mira is a part of that,” Miles said.

Community members can help the theater by joining the Board of Directors or a working committee.

The Mira Theatre survey is available online here. Sign up for the theater’s newsletter to receive announcements of future shows and community forums.