College Expects Simi to OK Funds for Arts Building

Moorpark College is expected to move a step closer tonight toward realizing its dream of building a $9-million performing arts building, which officials said will be a cultural centerpiece for eastern Ventura County.

The Legislature recently approved $7.4 million in funding for the arts facility, which had been in line to receive the money since 1987.

And tonight, the Simi Valley City Council is scheduled to consider the Ventura County Community College District’s request to use $1.4 million in redevelopment funds to help offset the remaining costs of the center.

“I don’t expect any problems,” Lawrence Lloyd, vice president of administrative services at the college, said of the college’s request. “In effect, it’s our money.”

The college district entered into an agreement with Simi Valley in 1985, setting aside a portion of the city’s redevelopment funds for use in constructing facilities at the Moorpark campus. The only major proviso was that the facilities benefit the neighboring community as well as the college.

Since the agreement, the college district has accumulated more than $250,000 in redevelopment money, which it now wants to use as collateral for a bond or a loan for its Moorpark College project.

As long as the college district can show that there is a valid use for the money, Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said, the city is obligated to approve the district’s request.

“The question is whether Moorpark College has a real need for a large performing arts center,” Stratton said.

Lloyd said the $1.4 million is needed to provide a 400-seat theater that can easily be modified to accommodate large drama, music or dance productions.

“This is going to be a facility that can be used for a variety of productions, not only for the college but the community at large,” Lloyd said. “Once it’s built, we expect there will be a considerable outcry from the community to use it. And that is something we look forward to.”

If all goes as planned, construction of the 25,841-square-foot performing arts center could begin as early as next summer, with completion expected in the fall of 1994, Lloyd said.

Sidney Adler, director of the humanities department at the college, said the new facility has been a long time coming.

“This has been on everybody’s mind ever since the college first came on board in 1967,” he said. “It’s about time.”

Over the years, Adler said, the college has been forced to use a 200-seat lecture hall for performing arts. Often drama or music productions must be held outdoors or at other facilities in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks because the hall is either too small or booked up, he said.

“It’s been a burden and a hassle,” Adler said. “The performing arts teachers at this college really have shown understanding and patience in light of the limited facilities.”

Adler agreed with Lloyd that the center will play an important role for the community as well as for the college.

“There is nothing like this in this whole end of the county,” he said. “Once it opens, everybody will be clamoring to do things here.”

Moreover, Adler said, the center will pay its own way.

“We’re going to bring in ambitious performances in order to make it a paying operation,” he said. “When you have a performing arts theater this size, you want to exploit it enough so that it is of use to the entire community.”

Stratton said the performing arts center would not be in competition with Simi Valley’s plans to convert a historic church into a performing arts center. He said the college center would cater mostly to students, while the city’s facility would primarily serve the needs of local residents. The city recently purchased the vacant 67-year-old building for $820,000.

Remodeling and conversion of the building in the 3000 block of Los Angeles Avenue is expected to take two to three years and to cost about $2 million, city officials said.