Liberty Station, the result of decades of San Diego’s massive Naval Training Center transformation into a mixed-use neighborhood and cultural district, is a welcome departure from the sprawl of much of California. With its 1920s Spanish Revival buildings, arched colonnades, and wide public promenades, visiting it feels like a retreat from a time when walkability and simple elegance were the norm. To get the picture in your head, rewatch the original “Top Gun” for the NTC cameo, when Tom Cruise’s Maverick drives to Kelly McGillis’ Charlie House on Roosevelt Road in the complex, with the arcaded buildings framing the shot perfectly.
Despite the site’s heritage and many amenities, the Liberty Station Arts District, a nonprofit organization that manages more than 100 cultural and entertainment venues in Liberty Station, was still looking for an anchor. Enter San Diego’s Cygnet Theater, which was looking for a new home. The Cygnet had long outgrown its technologically outdated, barn-like theater in Old Town San Diego, its lease was uncertain and its operations were scattered throughout the neighborhood, notes Sean Murray, Cygnet’s co-founder and artistic director.
Fall Preview 2025
The only guide you need to get down to business.
On September 10, Liberty Station’s long-neglected naval base interchange, otherwise known as Building 178 , will be reborn as Cygnet’s new home. Called the Joan, short for Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center, in recognition of the project’s major donors, the 42,000-square-foot complex will serve as the theater’s home for productions—its first will be James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies”—and its offices, while also hosting other performing companies from the region.
Building 178, which originally opened in 1942, included a bowling alley, commissary, tailor shop, and even a disco. But after the Navy closed its San Diego training center in 1997, it sat empty and deteriorating, facing the threat of demolition or commercial redevelopment.
1. Chris Bittner, director of architecture at San Diego OBR. 2. Irwin Jacobs, one of San Diego’s most prominent arts philanthropists. 3. Sean Murray, co-founder and artistic director of Cygnet. (Ariana Drehsler / The Times)
“When the Navy left, they just walked out,” says Lisa Johnson, executive director of Liberty Station in the Arts District. “It looked like they had gone to lunch—half-past-hour coffee cups still on the tables.” Much of the 178-story building was barely standing. “The ceilings had collapsed. The columns were rotting through. In some cases, the plaster was holding up walls that had no structural core,” says architect Chris Bittner, principal at San Diego-based OBR Architecture.
Bittner, whose grandfather trained at the base during World War II, has worked on various Liberty Station projects for more than two decades. He and his team rebuilt the east wing of the building, which now houses rehearsal rooms, recreating the colonial-style roof, beams and walls while opening up the breezeways that had been drawn in.
Joan’s two performance venues—a 280-plus seat proscenium theater and a 150-seat black box—are built into the surviving portion of the building, but many of the surrounding spaces had to be reconfigured.
Galvenajam teātrim, lai izvairītos no ēkas vēsturiskās jumta līnijas maiņas, ekipāžas, kas izraktas zem oriģinālās plāksnes, pazeminot skatuves un auditorijas līmeni, lai ietilpība, takelāžas un apgaismojuma režģi varētu ietilpt zem zema profila. “Mēs būtībā paņēmām divstāvu ēku un nogremdējām to pa grīdu,” atzīmē Bittners. Melnās kastes teātra griestu paaugstināšana un telpas kolonnu, kas nesatur nepieciešamās masīvās pārsūtīšanas sijas, lai pārnēsātu grīdas kravu virs.
Tā kā teātris atrodas tieši Sandjego Starptautiskās lidostas lidojuma ceļā (vienkārši mēģiniet veikt nepārtrauktu sarunu Point Loma apkārtnē), arhitekti katru teātri iesaiņoja slāņainos sienas asamblejās, gumijas blīves un skaņas bloķēšanas vestibilos ar pāra durvīm, lai bloķētu troksni. HVAC vienības bija akustiski izolētas ar atsperēm un spilventiņiem, kanāls tika izklāts ar lēnu gaisa ātrumu, un tika izveidotas atsevišķas mehāniskās zonas, lai lobija vai veikala troksnis nevarētu noplūst izrādes. Galvenajā posmā ir arī biezi betona griesti, un tā smalki sasmalcinātie akustiskie sienas paneļi, kas iestrādāti ar mikroportācijām, dubultā kā skaņas absorbētāji un difuzori, smalki noregulējot vietu.
1. Leonards un Elaine Hirša kopiena zaļā istaba 2. Dottie studijas teātris 3. Molli un Artūra Vāgnera mēģinājumu studija 4. Pam Fair un Glen Sullivan ģērbtuve 4 (Ariana Drehsler / The Times)
Auditorijas dizains ir moderns, bet nepietiekams, ar leņķiskajiem paneļiem un krāsu pops, kas nodrošina dzīvīgus akcentus, vienlaikus koncentrējot uzmanību uz izrādēm. Vestibils, kas atveras apkārtnei (un vēsmas) caur lielām bīdāmām stikla durvīm, stāsta citu stāstu. Ar siltu koka paneļiem, atklātu betonu, terrazzo un zemu tērauda margām dzīvīgā telpa jūtas gan moderna, gan nostalģiska, ar atsaucēm uz savu iepriekšējo dzīvi kā boulinga aleja. Dažos grīdas dēļos ir joslu bultiņas, savukārt oriģinālie joslu skaits ir krāsots uz mājas aizmugures telpu pagraba sijām. Tieši zemāk ir arī neliela mākslas galerija, kas sasniegta caur atvērtām kāpnēm.
Iespējams, ka projekts nekad nav atdzīvojies bez Jēkaba atbalsta, Sandjego ievērojamākajiem mākslas filantropiem. (Irvins Jēkabs starp citiem centieniem nodibināja Qualcomm.) Džoana Džeikoba nomira Pagājušajā gadā, padarot teātra vārdu, kas jau bija plānots, īpaši cietsirdīgs. Vēl jo vairāk tāpēc, ka Džoana, kas uzaudzināta Ņujorkā, bija kaislīga teātra apmeklētājs. Pāris apsolīja 10 miljonus dolāru, kad projekts vēl sāka darboties – solis, kuru noteikti atzīmēja nākamie donori. “Kad cilvēki redzēja darbības jomu un ambīcijas, kļuva vieglāk piesaistīt citus atbalstītājus,” saka Murray.
“We hoped our gift would be a catalyst,” says Irwin Jacobs, whose son Gary helped found Liberty Station’s High-Tech Heights in 2000, giving Jacobs the run of the area. “We wanted to help set the stage for the next chapter,” he adds. Jacobs and his late wife supported a dizzying list of cultural institutions in the city (in addition to science and education), including in recent years the San Diego Symphony’s Jacobs Music Center, the rad shell in Jacobs Park, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building.
“They have shaped the cultural landscape of San Diego,” Johnson says.
Jacob, who said his contributions have “made San Diego a more vibrant place to live and work,” says Joan could be one of the last (or possibly the last) major cultural projects he supports. “We couldn’t have imagined a better note to end on,” he says. Additional funding included a $10 million grant from the state of California (something that seems unthinkable in today’s political climate), as well as support from San Diego County and dozens of private donors.
Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for the Performing Arts (“Joan”) at Liberty Station in San Diego.
(Ariana Drehsler/The Times)
While Cygnet will operate on-site, Joan, located at what Bittner calls the “front door” to Liberty Station, is designed as a shared community space. A secondary black box, named The Dottie for major donor Dorothea Laub, will be available for rental and outside performances. Public galleries and lobby spaces will activate the building throughout the day, not just during shows.
Even as Cygnet prepares to open Joan, fundraising continues—about 14 percent of the $43.5 million budget has yet to be raised. For the creators, the building’s most lasting legacy may be how it draws people to the campus, which also boasts shops, galleries, artist studios, restaurants, museums, a movie theater, and the Liberty Public Market food hall.
“This project will activate the entire campus in a way we’ve never seen before,” Johnson says. “It’s not just a theater – it’s a magnet. It will do this during the day, in the evenings, and make this area a real cultural destination here.”
