Latest news with #SaveStarlight
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
San Diego's historic Starlight Bowl one step closer to being ‘saved'
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The city of San Diego has officially selected a group to start negotiations on revitalizing the historic Starlight Bowl amphitheater in Balboa Park. The Starlight Bowl went dark in 2011 after the operator filed for bankruptcy. Now, more than a decade later, efforts to breathe life back into the open-air venue are moving forward. Last year, Mayor Todd Gloria announced the city would be taking proposals to renovate the Starlight Bowl and the Village Grill, a takeaway-style eatery also in Balboa Park which has been left vacant since 2017. After years of discussions, the nonprofit Save Starlight, which has led efforts to bring the 3,600-seat venue back to life, said it has been chosen by the city as the preferred party for lease negotiations regarding the amphitheater. In an appearance on Good Morning San Diego in the KUSI studio Monday, Carleton Overstreet Jr. said he couldn't believe the news. 'We're eager to begin this process. As a board and a community, we've been waiting for this moment for years,' Overstreet said. Overstreet described the organization's vision for the 90-year-old venue as an 'inclusive event space that promotes culture and art that represents San Diego and the global diaspora.' He added the Starlight Bowl will be an entertainment hub for local musicians, community organizations, school graduations and musicals. The Starlight Bowl was built in 1935 by the Ford Motor Company as a showcase for its vehicles. In the years that followed, the stage was graced by the performances of big names such as Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Carlos Santana, Diana Ross, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones and more. 'That historic gem, the Starlight Bowl, will no longer be an eyesore,' Overstreet said. 'For all our community stakeholders that wrote in letters of support, which were included in our 170-page RFP application, thank you. We did this.' Now the next step is for Save Starlight to enter lease negotiations with the city. Watch the full interview with Carleton Overstreet Jr. above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Progress slows on effort to renew Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park
Watch Dan Plante's report for KUSI in the player above. SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — The city of San Diego's push to revitalize the long-defunct Starlight Bowl amphitheater in Balboa Park seems to have slowed down yet again. Months after submitting a proposal to lease and restore the 3,600-seat theater, one of the groups who has been leading the charge to breathe new life into the storied venue, Save Starlight, say they have yet to hear anything back from city officials. Steve Stopper, a former audio designer at the Starlight Bowl and CEO of the nonprofit, says they are ready to go with financial backers, an operating plan and even a line-up of events for the space once it reopens — whenever that will be. San Diego Restaurant Week deals: Where to dine 'We're ready to go to say the least,' Stopper said. 'We have supporters ready to go, we've been doing this a long time.' The return of the 90-year-old Starlight Bowl, which went dark more than a decade ago after its operator filed for bankruptcy, has been teased a handful of times over the years. New hope was instilled in organizers like Stopper last year, when Mayor Todd Gloria announced during his second State of Balboa Park address the city would formally consider proposals to renovate the theater — and another shuttered landmark in the park, the Village Grill. Potential lessees had until mid-November to submit a formal proposal to get the amphitheater back up and running. Since then, Save Starlight says there has been radio silence. Museum Month returns to San Diego; includes cultural sites in Tijuana At the same time, local officials have hit the brakes on other ambitious beautification projects, such as the civic center redevelopment, as the city contends with a $252 million structural budget deficit. Save Starlight says it can take on the millions of dollars in needed repairs at the Starlight Bowl to restore the venue to its former world-class glory without needing any funds directly from the city given partnerships with Sycuan Casino and other philanthropists. 'The Starlight Bowl will be an entertainment hub for our community. That's going to be music, that's going to be powwows, that's going to be speeches, that's going to be graduations,' said Carlton Overstreet Jr., another organizer with Save Starlight. 'But first, we need to open.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
