If you already know which Lobero night you want next fall, where will it be?
For Opera Santa Barbara, the answer is the Granada. The company has moved two of its 2027–28 operas there because the Lobero Theatre's renovation starts in 2027, as its artistic director told the Santa Barbara Independent. According to the Lobero Theatre Foundation, about twenty other local organizations that use the room will have to find somewhere else to go.
The changes around State and Canon Perdido are happening in sequence. The new film center has opened, the music venue across the street has broken ground, and the 1924 theater down the block closes next summer. Because of that order, the season running now through May is the only time the historic Lobero and the new McHurley will both be open before The Muse arrives.
How the Next Two Years Line Up
The Independent described this as a "$100 million triangle" of music and arts halls within a few hundred feet of each other. In order, the dates are:
- February 2, 2026. SBIFF's McHurley Film Center opened at 916 State Street in the former Fiesta Five after a $21 million renovation.
- Mid-October 2026. The Music Academy of the West broke ground on The Muse in the long-vacant former Forever 21 building at State and Canon Perdido.
- December 2026. The Bridges family plans to open b r i d g e s at 1309 State Street.
- February 3–13, 2027. The 42nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the first festival with the McHurley open well before opening night.
- May 21, 2027. The last date on the Lobero's current published calendar.
- June 1, 2027. The date Executive Director Marianne Clark has given for the start of Lobero construction.
- 2028. The Muse's scheduled opening.
Before June, every one of these rooms is open or about to open except The Muse. After June, the Lobero is closed and The Muse is still a construction site. The Granada and the McHurley carry downtown's evenings from then until 2028.
The Room That Is Already Open
The McHurley has changed what a weeknight downtown can involve. According to the Independent's coverage of the ribbon-cutting, the center lets SBIFF grow from about 1,000 screenings a year to 6,000. The organization has committed to showing an independent film, a foreign film, a retrospective or restoration, a documentary and a family film every day. Executive Director Roger Durling told the Independent that each of the five auditoriums is designed to echo a local venue: the Arlington, the Marjorie Luke, the Granada, the Riviera and the Lobero. One of the screens downtown will keep showing films is a design nod to the theater that goes dark next summer.
As of late October, the SBIFF Theatres listings for the coming weeks include:
- NT Live's Golden Boy: Monday, November 9, at 7 p.m.
- Soul Patrol: one night only, November 11.
- Raise the Red Lantern in a 4K restoration: part of the November 13–19 slate.
- Aguirre, the Wrath of God: the monthly Vital Cinema screening, Wednesday, November 18, at 5:30 p.m.
- The Met Opera's Samson et Dalila: Saturday, December 5, at 9 a.m.
- Fanny and Alexander: December's Vital Cinema pick, Wednesday, December 16.
Many showtimes are still listed as TBA, so check the listing before you walk over. Memberships through SBIFF's Film Squad start at $75 for an individual and $125 for a dual membership. Ticket discounts start at that entry level.
SBIFF has also announced that the McHurley will be a festival venue in February, along with the Riviera and the Arlington. John Malkovich will receive the Outstanding Performer of the Year award on Friday, February 12.
The Room Running Out the Clock
Clark called the Lobero project the most significant the theater has undertaken since it was built in 1924. Speaking to Noozhawk after the Planning Commission approved it in September, she explained why:
"To put it simply, we've run out of space, and we lack a number of the basic features that are expected in theaters of the Lobero's caliber."
The current season is the last full one before the work begins. These are selected dates from the Lobero calendar:
| Month | On the Lobero stage |
|---|---|
| November | Opera Santa Barbara's Rigoletto, Nov. 6, 8 and 10; Charles Lloyd Quartet, Nov. 12 |
| December | Jake Shimabukuro's Holidays in Hawaii, Dec. 10; The Christmas Revels, Dec. 19–20 |
| January | OUR HOUSE, Jan. 14; Jesse Cook's Forever Live Tour, Jan. 22 |
| February | José James Sings Sinatra, Feb. 10; The Barber of Seville, Feb. 19, 21 and 24 |
| March | Joan Osborne and Christian McBride, Mar. 5; Prince Again: A Tribute to Prince, Mar. 27 |
| April | Rising Appalachia, Apr. 2; A Tribute to the Legendary Linda Ronstadt, Apr. 9 |
| May | Santa Barbara Youth Ensembles Combined Spring Concert, May 2; James Ehnes & Orion Weiss, May 21 |
Rigoletto is the one to watch for. Opera Santa Barbara has said it will announce which productions are moving to the Granada during this run. The company has also added a third performance to both Rigoletto and The Barber of Seville this season.
What the Lobero Gets, and What the Block Loses
The renovation leaves the theater's front and auditorium unchanged except for expanded fire-sprinkler coverage. The rear rehearsal hall and courtyard will be demolished and replaced with a three-story addition. The first floor holds backstage rehearsal space and offices. The second floor holds a 130-seat banquet hall. The third floor holds a lounge, a bar and an event terrace with a fireplace. Clark said the addition also brings the theater's first laundry facilities, along with more showers and restrooms. The budget is $22.5 million, which includes design and campaign costs.
The project also changes how pedestrians cross the block. The paseo that now runs from Canon Perdido along the west side of the theater, across city parking lot No. 9 and toward Carrillo Street, will be removed. City staff cited safety and emergency-access concerns because walkers on that route cross four lanes of vehicle traffic. A new gated path behind the building will connect Anacapa Street to the new courtyards. According to Clark, the gates will be open only while staff are on site.
The approval process is not finished. On September 23 the Historic Landmarks Commission granted project design approval with conditions. It asked for more study of the landscaping, window proportions, plaster texture and the donor wall. June 1 is a target. No closure length or reopening date has been announced. "It is critical that this project begin on time and be completed as quickly as possible," Clark told Noozhawk.
Across the Street, the Room That Arrives in 2028
The Muse is the Music Academy's planned 20,000-square-foot building with a 200-seat hall for performance, teaching, practice and recording, plus a rooftop lounge. Construction is budgeted at $55 million. Music Academy board member Cheryl Goldberg gave the $20 million that bought the building and spoke at the groundbreaking about "celebrating thousands of experiences yet to happen." A few minor city permits still have to be issued before full construction begins.
The Independent's report on the groundbreaking concluded that "with or without a master plan, the 900 block of State Street appears determined to happen on its own." The master plan's future is still undecided. The Committee to Reopen State Street submitted referendum signatures on October 14. The city clerk is verifying them, and the City Council will then either repeal the ordinance or send the question to voters. The Muse, the Lobero and the McHurley are being built and renovated regardless of how that vote goes.
The Rest of This Season, Block by Block
Canon Perdido also has an outdoor event coming up. The first Presidio Harvest Festival takes over the parking lot at El Presidio State Historic Park, 117 E. Canon Perdido St., on Saturday, November 14, from noon to 3 p.m. Spencer the Gardener and the Brasscals are on the lineup. That evening at 7:30, the Santa Barbara Symphony performs Symphonie Fantastique! at the Granada, 1214 State St., with Nir Kabaretti conducting. A matinee follows on Sunday, November 15, at 3 p.m.
A block above the Granada, the former Tamsen Gallery at 1309 State Street is becoming b r i d g e s. The Bridges family describes it as a multigenerational gallery, cultural center and creative club with documentary and film screenings, live performances and pop-ups. The opening is set for December, and no date has been announced yet. The Independent reported that Lara Firestone and Mimi Wolfe will stay on to handle logistics.
On Friday, December 4, at 6:30 p.m., the Downtown Santa Barbara Holiday Parade returns to State Street for the first time since 2019. It runs along the mile from Sola Street to Cota Street. The route passes both the Granada and the 900 block. On the same night, the McHurley opens Elsinore and Ray Gunn.
The 1st Thursday Art Walk also continues downtown from 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month, which makes Thursday, November 5, and Thursday, December 3, the next two dates. If you are walking the galleries on November 5, the Lobero box office is a short walk down Canon Perdido, and Rigoletto opens there the next evening, Friday, November 6.
The changes near State and Canon Perdido will affect more than evenings out. They will shape how this part of downtown feels to live in and to own property in over the next several years. If you are weighing how they fit your own plans for a downtown residence, Locale Group would be glad to talk them through with you. Request a confidential consultation.
