Supervisors Get a Preview of Revised Reagan Library

Final plans for a slightly scaled-down version of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, proposed for a hilltop site in eastern Ventura County, were unveiled Tuesday before the Board of Supervisors.

The proposed $40-million facility, even though reduced in size, would be the largest presidential library in the country, officials said.

The library, which must receive the approval of the county Planning Commission, would house tens of millions of papers from the 8-year Reagan presidency for study and public viewing.

Architectural drawings submitted to the county by officials of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation show a 153,000-square-foot building with parking for about 450 cars and recreational vehicles. Two stories of the proposed library would be underground, with a main floor and courtyard on the ground level and a smaller second story, plans show.

The foundation decided against building a separate center for public affairs, envisioned as a think tank for conservative issues. But the foundation may consider using some of the library for a public-policy study center, said C. Ronald Kimberling, executive director.

Also abandoned was the idea of building overnight accommodations for the Reagans. The Reagans have decided to retire in Bel-Air, only about an hour away by car, said Fred Hummel, one of the project’s architects.

The library would be larger than the eight existing presidential libraries in number of volumes as well as in size, officials said. A 300-seat auditorium, a replica of the President’s Oval Office, a presidential museum and a room for Nancy Reagan memorabilia are planned.

Meeting and seminar rooms, as well as state-of-the-art audio-visual and computer equipment, would be provided for visiting scholars, foundation officials said.

A red-tile roof, stucco exterior and use of California redwood and Spanish tiles would give the library a Western style, said Merle T. Westlake, senior vice president of Stubbins Associates, library architects.

“It is a contemporary interpretation of what seems to us appropriate for a Southern California location,” Westlake said.

The library is planned for 100 acres of unincorporated county land near Olsen Road and Wood Ranch Parkway. The property, north of Thousand Oaks and west of Simi Valley, was donated by the development firm of Blakeley Swartz, which owns several hundred adjacent acres.

Hotel Plans Shelved

Gerald W. Blakeley and Donald E. Swartz, owners of the firm, have said they planned to build a hotel and convention center on nearby land to accommodate the estimated 100,000 to 300,000 library visitors each year. But a representative of the firm said Tuesday that those plans have been shelved because of potential opposition from nearby residents.

The library property is in the Tierra Rejada greenbelt, an area in which only one single-family house is allowed for each 40 acres. But county planning officials last month decided that a presidential library would be an allowable use.

As with all presidential libraries, the Reagan library would be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration. Foundation officials said they hope to raise about 40% of the library’s estimated $40-million cost through gifts and private donations by the time construction begins.

County officials will begin reviewing architectural plans and, later this month, will determine whether the project requires an environmental impact report, Planning Director Tom Berg said. The project could be approved by the Planning Commission as early as June, but delays could extend a final decision for another three to six months, he said. If plans are rejected by the commission, the developer can appeal the decision to the Board of Supervisors.

After protests by students and faculty, foundation officials last spring scuttled plans to build the library on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto.

The foundation then began looking for sites in Southern California. After a six-month search, it decided on the donated Ventura County property because of its large size, physical beauty and proximity to the Reagans’ retirement home, officials said.

County Supervisor James Dougherty, who represents the area where the library is proposed, said after Tuesday’s presentation: “I would be pleased to have such a prestigious facility there.”