The Rock Church is on pace to offer a hand to El Cajon, where city officials are hoping the megachurch will settle at the shuttered East County Performing Arts Center.
The El Cajon City Council gave the go-ahead for formal talks to continue with the church, which would take over the center, closed since 2009, and build a 20,000-square-foot building nearby for The Rock East County’s administrative use.
The city would be given access to the new building at no cost, El Cajon officials said, and take ownership of the structure in 35 years.
“The whole concept of using this facility to its utmost capacity, both as a space for the church and as a renovated Performing Arts Center for the community at large, is exciting,” Mayor Bill Wells said in a news release.
Preliminary terms for the deal call for the Rock to pay the city $216,000 a year over five years, with a 2 percent annual increase factored in and an option to extend the contract.
The Rock would be guaranteed use of the arts center every Sunday morning, Tuesday night and one Friday and Saturday evening per month.
That’s a total of 132 days, according to the city, or about a third of the year. Officials said though that the city will be able to rely on revenue from the lease – which includes $4,000 a month for the land where the new building will sit – to re-open the arts center “without having taxpayers provide a large subsidy to operate it.”
The center, which seats 1,145 people, closed five years ago as the city faced budget challenges brought about by the housing market collapse and ensuing recession. It was built nearly 40 years ago and was run by the Grossmont Community College District until 1995, when the city took over.
Two years ago, the city began to look into options for opening the theater again and eventually received two plans for the project, including The Rock’s. The city is seeking the service of firms to renovate the aging center and hopes it can re-open by late next year.
The Rock’s base in Point Loma, but the church also operates in San Marcos and El Cajon, where it hosts five weekly services at 808 Jackman St. Pastor Ricky Page leads the El Cajon branch.
The church is run by pastor and author Miles McPherson, 54, a former San Diego Charger who started The Rock in 2000. The church estimates that about 15,000 attend the church’s weekly services at its main sites and 18 “micro-sites’ throughout the county, which include Coronado, Lemon Grove and Ramona.
