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# Foundation feels strongly about Barnum Hall
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/foundation-feels-strongly-about-barnum-hall/
- Published: 2003-07-12T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:31:01.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

With a donation of $20,000 last week, the Bruce and Virginia Benson Foundation became the largest donor to commit funds to restoring Barnum Hall, the 1937 theater on the Santa Monica High School campus.

The foundation, during the past four years, has donated $72,000 to Barnum Hall’s ongoing restoration and renovation. Polly Benson-Brown, who has been active in Santa Monica civic issues for many years, and her sister and brothers annually select the foundation's beneficiaries.

The foundation, which is administered by David Benson, was established by their late father and stepmother, Bruce and Virginia Benson, to provide financial support to community-serving organizations that are not well-funded.

“Barnum Hall not only provides a wonderful performance venue to Santa Monica High School students, but also will give the entire community access to the performing arts via both publicly and privately sponsored events,” Benson-Brown said. “Barnum is also a historically significant example of Streamline Moderne architecture that is being meticulously restored under the watchful eye of the Restore Barnum Hall Committee. Barnum Hall does not have the luxury of an endowment, so I believe my father would be pleased to see his foundation making a difference to our community by helping to restore the theater.”

“We are so grateful for the extraordinary continuing support the Benson Foundation has given us,” said Jean Sedillos, chairperson of Restore Barnum Hall!, the volunteer group that raises funds and assists the district with details of the restoration. “Gifts like this, and hundreds of smaller ones, have added up to about $1 million, and they are making the difference between an adequate restoration and the truly exceptional concert hall the district and the community are creating.”

Even though the hall reopened for Samohi’s use last December, much work remains: cleaning and restoring the Stanton Macdonald-Wright mural on the fire curtain (scheduled for this summer), replacing 260 balcony seats, refurbishing the upstairs restrooms, installing the donated Wurlitzer pipe organ, landscaping, and building a maintenance endowment. Restore Barnum Hall continues to welcome community support to complete the project.

For more information, call 310 393-7253.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 12, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071203.pdf?ref=smdp.com)