From the Los Angeles Times Archives

How did the Los Angeles Times cover Henry Segerstrom as his empire grew over the years? The following are selections from the paper’s archives:

A FIELD WITH A FUTURE

Orange County’s newest major regional shopping center, the multi-million dollar South Coast Plaza, which opened Wednesday, has been geared to meet the needs of the entire county.

Henry Segerstrom, spokesman for the Segerstrom family, which developed the 1 million-squarefoot center, said the plaza stemmed from extensive land use studies and an analysis of retail operations in the county.

The center now houses 70 specialty shops, in addition to May Co. and Sears Roebuck and Co. stores.

The retail analysis was geared to population growth, industry and job predictions and expected income levels for the surrounding community, all of which were transferred to a general master plan.

“There are no estimates allowed when dealing with a project of this size,” Segerstrom noted. “We do not feel we are de-humanizing the … processes of shopping but we’ve … done everything possible to make it more pleasant, comfortable and efficient.”

— “Major Shopping Unit Opens in Costa Mesa,” March

19, 1967

A HOTEL GROWS IN MESA

The South Coast Plaza Hotel, newest in the Western International chain, formally opens its 403 rooms and facilities Monday.

Immediately north of the Bristol Street exit of the San Diego Freeway, the 17-story structure opposite the vast South Coast Plaza shopping center has already become an Orange County landmark.

The $18-million project is a development of SECON Properties, a joint venture of South Coast Plaza Associates and Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. Henry T. Segerstrom, member of a pio-

neer farming and landowning family, is managing partner of the SECON partnership. …

Opening of the hostelry at 666 Anton Blvd. will complete another segment of the master plan for the 200-acre South Coast Plaza and Town Center, launched in 1967 as the prospective “downtown” area for the county. — “New Hotel for Orange County,”

Aug. 17, 1975

SCR FINDS A NEW HOME

If timing is the key to success, South Coast Rep.’s time has come. For most of its 12-year history, it has received critical acclaim but has struggled from production to production, its only immediate goal being to keep the wolf from the door.

Now its immediate goals are bolder. South Coast Rep. wants to raise $1.5 million in contributions to build a new 507-seat theater, plus enough cash for a moneymaking endowment fund.

There is cautious confidence among the theater’s board of trustees that the goal will be reached, and soon. Some estimate they are already about onethird of the way there.

Researchers hired to sound out prospective donors reported back they were surprised at the willingness of some major corporations and individuals to make big contributions.

The researchers concluded that South Coast Rep. seems to be in the right place at the right time. The theater could reap a spontaneous outpouring of support for high-quality art in Orange County.

Henry Segerstrom, spokesman for the endowing family that developed South Coast Plaza shopping center, gave South Coast Rep land beside South Coast Plaza Hotel for its new theater.

“Orange County has developed industrially and commercially and now is the time for further cultural development,” he said.

— “Theater’s Time Has Come,” Oct. 24, 1976

NORDSTROM COMES TO CALIFORNIA

The Seattle-based Nordstrom organization will build its 17th store and its first in California at the South Coast Plaza regional shopping center in Costa Mesa.

Construction on the $6-million, three-level, 120,000-square-foot building that will be joined to the existing center on two levels will begin early this year, with an opening date set for March, 1978, according to Bruce Nordstrom. The store will sell specialty apparel and shoes for men, women and children, he added.

In addition to the Nordstrom store, construction is under way on an 80,000-square foot I. Magnin store and 30,000 square feet of additional mall space to be completed next August, according to Henry Segerstrom, a spokesman for the center’s owner-developer. — “Nordstrom Store Planned for South

Coast Plaza,” Jan. 16, 1977

‘IT TAKES CREATIVITY’

The story of the Segerstroms’ move from limas to high-rises has two principal parts, according to developers, brokers, office tenants and other observers polled by The Times.

Chapter 1 is a tale of the foresight and patience of the Segerstrom family, who planted the seeds for their high-rises with a shopping center and a hotel and then waited patiently until the market climate was ripe for the glass-covered towers of concrete and steel. By waiting, the family was able to attract a big-league financial partner, cream-of-the-crop financial tenants, and finally a glittering centerpiece — the Orange County Music Center.

Chapter 2 is a story of enviable good fortune in location and timing. In addition to the luck of being located next to what one broker calls Orange County’s “jugular vein” — the San Diego Freeway — the Segerstroms have been blessed with a cooperative city government that viewed the family’s plans as a way to create a better identity for Costa Mesa. ...

In a recent interview, one of the first the privacy-conscious family has granted, managing partner Henry Segerstrom stressed the first chapter and downplayed the second.

“Location is as good as you make it,” he said while sitting in one of his new 15-story buildings, peering out as 5 p.m. traffic streamed onto the San Diego Freeway. “Once location has been made good, everyone says, ‘Isn’t it great?’ But it takes creativity and a lot of hard work to make something that isn’t established into a prime location.” — “High-Rises Bring Higher

Yield,” Feb. 16, 1982

A CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Construction of the Orange County Performing Arts Center — a $65.5-million project that will be one of the largest such centers built in the United States in a decade — was given a rousing start Thursday when it was announced at the ground breaking that a fund-raising drive has reached $40 million.

Speakers at the Costa Mesa ceremony said that when the Orange County center opens in the fall of 1986, it will rival the “world class” stature of older arts centers in Los Angeles, New York and other cultural capitals.

And the Orange County center, they said, already enjoys one national distinction: it is believed to be the first performing arts center of its size to be directly financed only with private monies. ...

Henry Segerstrom, head of the center’s fund-raising drive, said private donors have responded with “magnificent generosity” and that the campaign has “surpassed all our construction-funding targets with extraordinary success.” — “Orange County’s Arts Center Is Under Way,”

July 8, 1983

A WORD FROM THE GIPPER

Orange County declared its cultural independence Monday night with the opening of a $70.7million Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The Center, whose sculptural angles and curves loom over a one-time lima bean field, came to life amid the stirring harmonies of Beethoven, unabashed opulence,

“Orange County has developed industrially and commercially and now is the time for further cultural development.”

Henry Segerstrom From the Oct. 24, 1976 story “Theater’s Time Has Come”

fireworks and a mood of community pride.

At 7:30 p.m., in the Center’s 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall, a sea of patrons in tuxedos and gowns fell silent. Conductor Zubin Mehta brought down his baton and the sounds of the Los Angeles Philharmonic — which for years made its Orange County performances in a high school auditorium — filled the hall, known formally as the Orange County Performing Arts Center. ...

The loudest applause at the beginning of the evening greeted the words of President Reagan, whose telegram was read by Timothy Strader, president of the Arts Center.

“The Performing Arts Center of Orange County is your own in a very real way,” Reagan’s message said. “You have made it possible with your own contributions, and that demonstrates broad public understanding of the asset such a center represents to the community.” — “Arts Center Opens to Fanfare,” Sept. 30, 1986

OCPAC PREPARES TO EXPAND

With the Orange County Performing Arts Center operating near capacity two years ahead of projections, the center board Thursday moved ahead with plans to add at least two new theaters at an estimated cost of up to $92 million.

The proposal includes a concert hall of 2,300 to 2,500 seats — designed in part to head off any competition for popular Broadway road shows — and a drama theater of 650 to 800 seats, possibly to be shared with neighboring South Coast Repertory Company.

“Our family is particularly pleased and proud that this gift of our resources can be made ... as we are celebrating our 100th year in Orange County.”

Henry Segerstrom From the Dec. 16, 1998 story “Family Confirms Donation of Land for Arts

Center”

Together with SCR’s two existing stages, the resulting complex of five stages and nearly 8,000 seats would rank in size between the Lincoln Center-Juilliard complex in New York City — the nation’s largest — and the Kennedy Center in Washington.

Like the $70-million Center, the additional theaters would be privately funded, if possible, officials said.

“Both a concert hall and a small hall are justifiable in the next decade, subject, of course, to the one caveat that we can afford to proceed and the determination of a prudent timetable,” said center Chairman Henry T. Segerstrom in a statement relayed by center President Thomas R. Kendrick.

— “O.C. Center Moves Ahead With Plans for 2 Theaters,” March 31, 1989

A NEW LAND DONATION

The Segerstrom family on Tuesday formally announced it will donate $16 million worth of land for an expanded cultural complex in Costa Mesa to be called the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

The family has agreed in principle to contribute roughly 6 acres of former farmland for a complex that will complement the Orange County Performing Arts Center, said Henry T. Segerstrom.

Prospects for the gift were announced by center officials in February but the plan had not — until Tuesday — been confirmed by the donors.

“Our family is particularly pleased and proud that this gift of our resources can be made ... as we are celebrating our 100th year in Orange County,” Segerstrom said.

Center officials also formally announced that renowned Argentine architect Cesar Pelli has been hired to design the project’s first phase. Pelli created a model shown last month to officials from leading local arts organizations.

The first phase will encompass a concert hall of 1,800 to 2,000 seats and a 500-seat multipurpose auditorium to be built south of the center on what is now a parking lot and a grassy expanse,

officials said.

— “Family Confirms Donation of Land for Arts Center,”

Dec. 16, 1998

A LAVISH NEW CONCERT HALL

After 18 years of planning, seven years of stop-and-go fundraising and three years of construction, the $200-million Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall opened Friday night with pink champagne and the booming tenor of Placido Domingo.

At least for one night, as hall boosters munched roasted prawn hors d’oeuvres and mingled in tuxedos and evening gowns, it seemed possible to forget the $50-million fundraising shortfall still besetting the project.

“That’s not part of tonight,” said Roger Kirwan, co-chair of the fundraising campaign. “It’s about celebrating the wonderful addition to Orange County. Tomorrow it will be back to reality, and we’ll start thinking about it again.”

He said he hoped the gala opening of the 2,000-seat auditorium would uncork further donations. The hall was named for the real estate developer responsible for South Coast Plaza and his late wife. Segerstrom donated the land and $50 million.

— “O.C.’s Segerstrom Concert Hall Opens on an Optimistic Note,” Sept. 16, 2006

MAKING WAY FOR A MUSEUM

A very preliminary and completely unofficial model depicting a new high-rise home for the Orange County Museum of Art made an appearance Thursday morning in a Costa Mesa hotel ballroom. For the moment the museum, to be built next to the Orange County Performing Artscenter, resembles a lipstick — but that’s only the conception of an anonymous model-maker.

“It’s just a place holder” until the museum gets around to deciding how its building should look, said Anton Segerstrom, a partner in C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the development company led by his father, Henry, that has been instrumental in creating Costa Mesa’s arts and shopping district.

The Segerstrom company created the model shown at Thursday’s event, a conclave for municipal planners during which Henry Segerstrom and Costa Mesa officials accepted a statewide award from the American Planning Assn. for their vision for the district, including the new museum.

This year, city officials approved five high-rise residential developments in the district — among them an 80-unit, 300foot-tall condo tower rising above a museum that would occupy the lower three or four floors. — “Museum tower’s design

in the air,” Oct. 19, 2007