Sepulveda Basin Arts Complex Proponents Again Cut Back Plans : Culture: Revised proposal deletes amphitheater that was strongly opposed by Van Nuys Airport backers. Environmentalists, however, aren’t so easily mollified.

A group of San Fernando Valley business owners and arts patrons has once again responded to public criticism by agreeing to scale down its proposal for an arts complex in the Sepulveda Basin.

The Cultural Foundation eliminated an outdoor amphitheater and performance glen from its once-sprawling project, Arts Park L.A., which still calls for a theater, museum and various workshops to be erected along the basin’s northern edge. The theater, however, would now be built across Balboa Boulevard, outside Lake Balboa Park, to preserve more greenery around the lake.

This is the second time in eight months that the foundation has revised its plan. Last July, the group dropped additional buildings.

Such changes are meant to garner public support as the foundation seeks to sublease public land. The basin is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is leased to the city of Los Angeles.

At an environmental impact hearing in August, representatives from Van Nuys Airport had predicted that outdoor performances in the basin would be disrupted by air traffic noise, saying they feared park advocates eventually would seek restraints on airport operations.

“We were prepared to fight to the bitter end,” Rick Vorhis of the Van Nuys Airport Assn. said Tuesday. “It’s common sense that you don’t stick an outdoor amphitheater near the end of a runway. It would be like moving the Hollywood Bowl over by LAX.”

And environmentalists, who insist the basin’s greenery be preserved, were not so easily mollified by the latest plan revision.

“Cornfields used to be in there and that was great for all kinds of birds,” said Sandy Wohlgemuth, a conservation chairman for the Audubon Society. “We just don’t feel it’s an appropriate spot for any building.”

Foundation officials argue that the new plan would use less land than the old. They originally requested a 60-acre lease. Officials are calculating new boundaries.

“We’re leaving much more space for recreation in Lake Balboa Park,” said Ross Hopkins, the foundation’s executive director. “The whole area north of the lake will be available for playground equipment or picnicking.”

Should government officials agree to review this new plan, it will be submitted for a new round of public scrutiny, a Corps of Engineers official said. This could draw the already lengthy approval process into summer.

Foundation officials--who have been striving to build Arts Park L.A. for more than a decade--said the deletions from the park plan will not detract from the array of arts and entertainment they envision at the park.

“We will still have individual artists performing outdoors,” Hopkins said.

“We’re hopeful that the Valley Cultural Center’s stage in Warner Center will be the premiere stage for summer concerts.”

Revised Plan for Arts Park New Proposal 1. Performing Arts Pavillion 2. Arts Park Center 3. Media Center 4. Natural History Museum 5. Artist’s Outdoor Workshops 6. Children’s Center Old Proposal 1. Arts Park Center 2. Performing Arts Pavillion 3. Media Center 4. Artist’s Outdoor Workshop 5. Natural History Museum 6. Children’s Center 7. Outdoor Pavillion