THOUSAND OAKS : Oaks Mall Submits Renovation Plans

The Oaks mall has submitted plans to Thousand Oaks city officials for a $5-million face lift that would include a new glass elevator, flooring and signs, the mall’s manager said.

General Manager Barbara Teuscher said the renovations are designed to improve the appearance of the mall, which opened in April, 1978, and to make it more accessible to the handicapped and other shoppers.

“We’re coming up to our 15th-year anniversary, and we felt it was time to update the look of the shopping center, also to make it a little more user-friendly,” she said.

Teuscher said construction is expected to begin in January and be complete by August.

One of the most visible changes will be the replacement of the mall’s only elevator, located near The Broadway department store, with a much larger glass elevator that will accommodate more people, strollers and wheelchairs.

“It’ll almost be like a focal point in that area, a very large structure,” she said.

In addition, stairs will be installed at opposite ends of the mall, next to the Robinson’s and May Co. department stores, so shoppers won’t have to depend on the elevator or escalators.

The mall’s part-owner and management company, Hahn Co. of San Diego, will also enlarge and remodel the public restrooms on the second level and add handicapped ramps on the stairs to the children’s play area.

And the company may add new signs identifying the mall on streets leading into the parking lot and on the building’s exterior, Teuscher said.

Although most of the changes will have utilitarian purposes, some will be purely decorative.

Brick walkways will be ripped up and replaced by green slate flooring; bronze-colored handrails on the second level will be replaced by green metal rails, and ornamental metalwork will be put around the mall’s three outside entrances, she said.

The construction work is not expected to interfere with shopping at the popular mall, which has five department stores and about 155 smaller stores.

“The majority of the work will be done at night,” Teuscher said.