OXNARD : State to Consider Funds For Theater

A 2,500-seat amphitheater of Japanese design will be built at College Park off the Coast Highway in southern Oxnard if state funds set aside for recreation in poor areas are approved for the project.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved application for the $143,000 grant and expects a response within a few weeks. If approved, construction could start by mid-year in the public park with completion in January, said Supervisor John Flynn, in whose district the theater would be located.

The supervisors applied for the grant under a program intended “to meet the most urgent and unmet recreational needs . . . in the most heavily populated and most economically disadvantaged areas within the county,” said Peter Pedroff, General Services Agency director, in recommending the application.

Pedroff said the College Park amphitheater is an “ideal project” for the funds. South Oxnard, which includes Oxnard College and Channel Islands High School, has a mix of middle- and low-income households. The theater would be used for musical and stage productions.

Total costs are projected to be $550,000, with $350,000 coming from previous state bonds, $41,000 from the county and $20,450 from private parties, the county reported.