A defunct Starlight Bowl will hopefully return to life. (Courtesy photo)
Theatre | Balboa Park

Efforts Are Underway to Revive the Starlight Bowl

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

Balboa Park’s 4,000-seat Starlight Bowl desperately needs restoring. The aging amphitheater has been abandoned for more than a decade after serving as a venue for countless concerts and theater productions.

Built for the 1935 California-Pacific Exposition, there is hope that sufficient monies will be raised for its rebirth through efforts organized by Save Starlight.

The non-profit organization was founded in 2017 by Steve Stopper, who was a sound designer for Starlight when it declared bankruptcy and closed in 2012. His love for the place has resulted in a team of paid staffers, nine board members, and $100,000 in donations so far.

Stopper is particularly excited that Mayor Todd Gloria requested a $500,000 grant for the effort that will come from the city’s 2022 budget.

“We need in total about $1.8 million to get to the point of fully reopening for full theater and music productions,” Stopper noted. “This won’t be your grandma’s Starlight when we finally do come back because there’s going to be so much more we can do with it.”

Top priorities for the venue’s redo include replacing the main-stage flooring, upgrading the seats, repainting walls, creating ADA access points, and installing new sound systems that will mitigate noise from incoming airplanes.

Stopper predicts the venue could be up and running by next summer. Click here if you’d like to contribute.