San Diego Unveils A New Stage: ‘The Joan' At Liberty Station

Forbes

30-06-2025

A rendering of the exterior of the new Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center in San Diego. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
In 1923, San Diego's Liberty Station welcomed its first Navy recruit—later tripling in size as a military center during World War II. More than a century later, it's about to welcome an enthusiastic theater crowd.
After more than two decades of vacancy, 'Naval Building 178' will be reborn as The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center, referred to as 'The Joan.' The center will open on September 10, 2025, with the Cygnet Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies .
A rendering of the main Cygnet Theatre at The Joan. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
Named for lead donors Joan and Irwin Jacobs, the $43.5 million adaptive reuse project marks a partnership between two nonprofits: the Cygnet Theatre Company and the Arts District Liberty Station, formerly the NTC Foundation. The Liberty Station grounds closed in 1997, and in subsequent decades were gradually repurposed into a 100-acre center for arts, history and commerce. Called Arts District Liberty Station, the area harbors numerous artist, dance and design studios, eateries and markets, art galleries,, a creative academy, architecture offices, museums and more.
The Naval building's original enclosed arcades, windows, doors and colonnades have been reopened—they were boarded up during previous Navy renovations. The look ties into the district blend of Spanish Colonial Revival-style architecture, enhanced by landscaped open spaces.
The northern portion of the Naval building has been entirely reconstructed, excluding the historic arcade. The original 1942 design is back, while the basement level has been expanded to accommodate a main proscenium theater. It once housed a bowling alley, with the first and second floors hosting 1940s-era dance clubs, billiard games and a commissary. All told the project will cover 42,166 square feet.
A rendering of an outdoor space at The Joan. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
The 280-seat Joseph Clayes III Theater will be the main performance space, with the 150-seat Dottie Studio Theater—named for donor Dorothea Laub—staging more intimate productions. (Cygnet Theatre will be the main tenant, operating out of both spaces.)
Laub has been a longtime San Diego philanthropist, donating $1 million to Dance Place San Diego and $1 million to restore the Balboa Park Carousel, among other projects. Her late husband Dick Laub joined in her efforts.
Joan and Irwin Jacobs, married for nearly 70 years, have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to medical, scientific, technology, art and educational causes in San Diego. Most notably, they helped rescue the San Diego Symphony after the organization went bankrupt in the 1990s, with an infusion of $100 million. They also made a significant impact on UC San Diego programs. Irwin Jacobs is the co-founder and former chairman of Qualcomm Inc., a wireless technology company. Joan Jacobs died in 2024 at age 91.
A rendering of the community green room at The Joan. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
'Joan was a visionary civic leader and philanthropist whose mission was to make the world a better place—and a dear personal friend,' said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, upon Joan Jacob's death. The Joan Will House San Diego's Third Largest Theater
Cygnet Theatre artistic director Sean Murray calls the new space 'a vibrant hub for creativity and connection in the heart of the Arts District.' When opened, The Joan will be the cornerstone of the arts district, a needed addition, adds Murray, to San Diego's cultural infrastructure. About 50,000 theater-goers are expected to attend annually.
The main proscenium theater will include a sophisticated amplification system designed for musical performances, as well as an orchestra pit. Given that the structure is in a flyover area (it's about three miles from the San Diego International Airport), designers used thicker walls, a roof that deflects noise, and HVAC system shock absorbers, among other build-ins.
Rendering of a bar at The Joan. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
Two green rooms, dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces, two bars and a dedicated costume shop fill out the design. The open-air lobby has indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, suited to Southern California weather. Local artists will show their work in an art gallery located on the lower lobby.
The two project partners are well-aligned. The Arts District Liberty Station has long been adept at adaptive reuse and historic building management, while Cygnet Theatre has a 22-year history of building relationships in the arts community, along with a dedicated patron base. Cygnet Theatre opened near UC San Diego in 2003, and in 2008, moved to the Old Town Theatre in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The theater is named after a young swan, called a cygnet. The new theater will be about two miles from the Cygnet's present location. An Old Globe Theatre Designer Headed The Project
Ownership of the building will remain with Arts District Liberty Station, with Cygnet Theatre serving as the primary tenant. Other community performing arts organizations are expected to use the space.
Rendering of the lobby at The Joan. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
A design firm that helped create San Diego's venerable Old Globe Theatre partly headed the project: Fisher Dachs Associates, founded by renowned Broadway lighting designer Jules Fisher. Joshua Dachs is the firm's principal-in-charge. The company has designed performance spaces worldwide, including: the Goldman Sachs Auditorium in New York City; the Chicago Symphony Center, Orchestra Hall; and the Tianjin Juilliard School in China.
The project team also brought San Diego-based obrArchitecture on board, which mastered the Liberty Public Market and other Arts District Liberty Station buildings.
Rendering of the elevators and lobby at The Joan. Courtesy of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center
Cygnet Theatre's first season at its new home will include four musicals and two plays. After Follies opens (the theater's largest production to date), the line-up features Christopher Durang's comedy, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike , the company's tenth anniversary production of A Christmas Carol and Cygnet's A Magical Holiday: Christmas at The Joan . The season continues with the San Diego premiere of Somewhere Over the Border , the Tony Award-winning The Lehman Trilogy and The SpongeBob Musica l. The season runs until July 19, 2026.
The cash behind the effort largely came from major philanthropic donations and public funding. Lead donors include the Jacobs family, Dorothea Laub, the Conrad Prebys Foundation and Molly Wagner. The State of California provided a $10 million catalyst grant, and the National Parks Service's 'Save America's Treasures' program also contributed.