FIRST OFF . . .

A public request for private assistance to restore and operate San Diego’s historic Balboa Theatre is expected to be approved today at the 9 a.m. Centre City Development Corp. board meeting. A study commissioned by the CCDC last year, recommended that a restored 1,400-seat, city-owned theater would be suitable for a variety of musical, theater, dance, film and town hall uses. The study by Theatre Project Consultants Inc., of New York, put the cost of restoring the Balboa at $11 million. The study also estimated that, depending on the kind of events produced there, the theater could require an annual subsidy ranging from $212,000 to $600,000. In recent years, the Balboa was operated as a movie theater until April, 1986, when it was closed because of earthquake concerns. The theater opened March 28, 1924, as a vaudeville and film house. It is next to the 900,000-square-foot Horton Plaza shopping center downtown. The theater, a locally designated historic site, has been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Rehabilitation of the Balboa by a nonprofit organization might qualify for a 20% investment tax credit under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, according to the CCDC request for proposals.