East County Issue / Support for...

Vicky Howard, Ventura County supervisor

Yes, I really think that there would be support. What we desperately need in Simi Valley is a better facility than we now have. The 98-seat theater, an interim theater we’re calling it, is basically an old courtroom in the courthouse that the county traded to the city when it built a new one, and it’s not a very good theater. It’s been a real struggle to put on performances in less-than-adequate facilities, and I think that deprives some of the groups of the ability to stage productions. In general, we’ve been a cultural black hole, and I think that, with the population that we have in the Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Moorpark area, we’re looking at almost 300,000 people. I really feel that, if we have good facilities, we have a lot of talent here, and we really could build a major audience.

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Eileen Cohen, Chairwoman, Simi Valley Cultural Assn.

The answer is yes. There are enough residents living in the east end of the county to support a performing arts center. With Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Moorpark, I think that, if it is promoted properly, there will be a tremendous amount of support for live theater. The biggest obstacle the Simi Valley Cultural Assn. faced in 1992 was taking an old courthouse and turning it into a performing arts center. The group laid out over $18,000 in capital improvements and basically depleted our reserves. The hope for the future is bright. We’re doing a mass mailing to people in the Simi area asking for their help, support, donations. I think the people of Simi are interested in theater. Once the residents in the east county have enough information about the Thousand Oaks center or have gone to see the performances, with word of mouth, you’ll be drawing from the San Fernando Valley and the other side of the county, not just the east end.

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Greg Stratton, Mayor, Simi Valley

Yes, I think they will. I think that a great deal of the attendance is a function of the types of plays and the types of facilities. A 98-seat theater was a beginning, and there were also a significant number of, I’d have to say, additional expenses that weren’t anticipated when they moved in. Moorpark College is also in the process of building a large theater, and Simi Valley has a smaller one that we’re working on. I believe that each of these facilities will have its own type of events and its own market niche, and I think the community will support all of them once they’re up and running. There are a number of surveys about what people are doing in terms of where they go for theater, and the fact is that many of the people right now from eastern Ventura County go into Los Angeles, and that’s really what you have to break. You have to provide material that is similar in professionalism to Hollywood, to Los Angeles.

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Alex Fiore, Councilman, Thousand Oaks

I believe that there is a drastic need for this kind of facility in this end of the county. Once completed, our auditorium should be one of the finest in the state. I see a need, because we have published attitude surveys every four or five years, and every time we have published one, the need for cultural facilities has come in first or second. I talk to many people who are tired of driving into Los Angeles for live theater, and they are looking forward to the day we can have these kinds of shows in Thousand Oaks. You need facilities in order to have cultural events, and we’re the only city in Ventura County that has done it in a meaningful way, I believe. I think Oxnard has an auditorium, but nowhere near what we’re building.

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Margaret Travers, Chairwoman, Thousand Oaks Arts Commission

Yes, absolutely. This community is especially active in the arts, and I think that there is a great, warm atmosphere or feeling toward theater in this community. I think that we’re very fortunate and very unusual in that. Since I’ve been here, it’s always just been that way. We’re very lucky, and because it seems that the people who live in Thousand Oaks feel that way, we pass that on to the council members, and they have been supportive. Other communities don’t have the same feeling, the acceptance of arts. The Civic Arts Plaza is not only going to house an 1,800-seat auditorium, but also a 400-seat forum that local groups will be able to use. There is a need in the community for more performing arts venues of various kinds, primarily small, because many of our groups are small, and the kinds of things they do appeal to a small audience.