Agoura Hills Accepts Land Gift for Library
The Agoura Hills City Council has chosen a six-acre piece of land donated by the Kanan family as a site for a library and community center.
The council voted unanimously late Wednesday to accept the donation from the Patricia K. Kanan Family Trust and to fund an architectural study for the $4.5-million library.
The council’s decision to put the library on an undeveloped hill on Canwood Street west of Clareton Drive ends a long period of uncertainty over the site. Discussion among council members about putting the library on existing city parkland touched off angry protests from residents in 1985.
City officials estimate the value of the Kanan land donation to be at least $4 million, said City Manager David N. Carmany. If the city had to buy land in addition to paying the cost of construction, it probably could not afford the library, he said.
Under the agreement with the Kanan family, which was among the first to develop Agoura, the city will take possession of the land in April, 1991. Construction will begin shortly thereafter, and the 25,000-square-foot library is expected to open in mid-1992, Carmany said.
The council also is exploring the possibility of building a $2-million community center on the remainder of the land.
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