A New Home For the Arts in Southern California!
People who adore the charm and warmth of Covina's pedestrian friendly downtown are sure to love the design of the Covina Center for the Performing Arts. ??Covina is at once a traditional hometown and an innovative small city, one that other communities look to as a model of neighborhood "livability." Chris and Retha Champion had just that sensibility in mind and shared it with the team who designed and developed the new state-of-the-art Covina Center for the Performing Arts.

The team that was assembled to make this vision and a reality stayed true to the Champions' vision, creating a facade that honors our city's heritage, with a traditional marquee and low-rise exterior that suits the flavor of the historic district. Inside, wood paneling and flooring, richly colored carpeting, beautiful chandeliers and an expansive balcony with three box seat areas celebrate the elegance of an evening at the theater. Largely unseen, though, are the 10,200 square-foot facility's many advanced features that reveal the Covina Center for the Performing Arts as a true hub of cultural and community renewal, and artistic excellence.

Quality Theater and So Much More

State-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, a stage featuring three traps (vertical lifts) and a fly tower with rigging enable the Covina Center for the Performing Arts to provide the highest level of artistic excellence and technical advanced productions. Ideal for school performances, dance recitals, concerts, lectures and classic movie screenings, this state of the art facility can seat up to 99 audience members and gives our city the opportunity to draw nationally known artists to the stage of the Covina Center for the Performing Arts. The upstairs of the Covina Center for the Performing Arts plays host to the Champion Bar & Cabaret. A refined cocktail lounge offering a full menu of the highest quality liquors, intimate ambiance and a full Cabaret stage with its own lighting and sound system. Finely detailed and beautifully decorated with coffered ceilings, stained glass and more, the space will be available also for weddings, parties, business seminars and other gatherings for as many as 50 guests.


The team of building, engineering, design and acoustics experts assembled to bring the Covina Center for the Performing Arts to life has a lot in common with the theatrical productions the facility's stage will begin hosting later this year. Working under the skillful direction of owners Chris and Retha Champion and builder George Hagelis of Alpha Omega Construction, each member of the ensemble was hand-picked both for their unique talents, and for their dedication to ensuring the Center opens to rave reviews.

"We have a brain trust, with the best minds coordinating daily to meet the challenges of fitting a full-scale performing arts center into a small space," said Hagelis, adding that the Center's state-of-the-art electronics and theatrical equipment make construction more complex. A second-generation builder whose company is known both for historic renovation and for new construction projects, such as churches, where acoustics and high quality craftsmanship are critical, Hagelis said he is honored that his company was chosen to build the Center.

"This project means so much to the Champions and to the community," he said. "Chris and Retha have done everything first rate all the way, and the finished product will be a gift that people throughout the region will enjoy for generations." Hagelis said this type of work is interesting because one never knows what might turnup in an old building.

Hagelis said extreme winter weather has caused some delays, but won't prevent the curtain from rising on the Center's inaugural season. "Everyone involved has made this project a labor of life, and September is still our goal."