Work begins next week on a $1.6-million...

Work begins next week on a $1.6-million remodeling and renovation of Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre. The 37-year-old 1,200-seat theater, normally used for campus productions and touring professional shows, will be closed until the end of March. Campus productions will be moved to various sites on- and off-campus. The project will include the installation of air conditioning, new seats and new lighting; and the acoustics, electrical system and access for the handicapped will be improved. Fund-raising for the project began last spring with the announcement of a $375,000 matching grant from the Harry and Grace Steele Foundation. More than $280,000 in matching funds have been raised so far, including a just-announced gift of $40,500 from Thomas C.K. Yuen, co-founder of AST Research Inc. in Irvine, who is a 1972 graduate of the college. Yuen, whose gift took the form of 3,000 shares of AST stock, was AST’s co-chairman and chief operating officer until his resignation last month.