SIMI VALLEY : Architect Hired for Recreation Center

The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District has moved a step closer to building Simi Valley’s first recreation center.

The district’s board of directors on Thursday chose an architect to design a 26,000-square-foot center at the new Rancho Santa Susana Community Park at Los Angeles Avenue and Stearns Street, district General Manager Jerry L. Gladden said.

The architectural firm--Wolff, Lang & Christopher, based in Rancho Cucamonga--designed the senior center and teen center in Thousand Oaks, Gladden said.

The $3.8-million community center will include a gymnasium, dance studio, lockers with showers, classrooms and meeting rooms, Gladden said.

The district is also considering building an outdoor stage connected to the recreation center, Gladden said. The center is expected to be completed by early 1993.

The new building will be Simi Valley’s first recreation center.

The Sycamore Drive Community Center, located in a converted condominium complex, only has a multipurpose recreation room and smaller meeting rooms.

Rancho Santa Susana Community Park will be the park district’s largest urban park, Gladden said. The park, which is still being landscaped and graded, will have 45 acres of flat land, he said.

The park will include three lighted soccer fields and at least two lighted baseball diamonds.