SAN DIEGO — The nonprofit trying to restore the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park is trying to figure out how to press on after they were hit by thieves recently. The aging theater is undergoing construction, but someone broke in and stole $50,000 worth of equipment.
When Steve Stopper left the Starlight Bowl Thursday afternoon it was a theater nearing the end of a construction project after a tree fell on it over the summer.
“The city was in the midst of repairs and this place area was actively being worked on by many trades over a two-month period,” said Stopper.
The work required them to turn off security cameras and alarms, according to Stopper.
Saturday morning, Balboa Park rangers discovered someone broke in at the bottom of the bowl, made their way to the top and ransacked the renovated interior.
“They weren’t here for five minutes,” said Stopper.
The thieves started in the green room area attached to the old ticket windows that once held prized instruments intended for a fundraiser auction.
"We had on the wall a drumhead from War signed by the band. [Guitars from] Styx, the B-52s, Jason Mraz, Jewel, Keb' Mo' and these guitars were on the wall. They're all gone,” Stopper said.
Whoever broke in even helped themselves to the refrigerator, before stealing tens of thousands of dollars-worth of equipment.
"This had computers on it, it had video editing, digital mixers, microphones, everything we needed to do any performances,” Stopper said.
While News 8 was talking to Stopper, someone else broke in on the stage.
"I just saw a vandal down there, if you want to see him,” said Stopper. “He just walked by.”
The Starlight Bowl closed in 2011. Stopper's nonprofit Save Starlight and an army of volunteers have slowly been working to reopen it.
Their plans to re-open included starting a concession stand, then playing movies and eventually becoming a premier concert venue - a $15-million dream now in jeopardy.
“We have to re-think the dream because this is well over $50,000 in stuff gone and I don’t know how were going to collect it again,” Stopper said. “And even if we did, I don’t know what the city is going to do to secure the place.”
Click here if you would like to learn more or donated to Save Starlight.