Civic Plaza’s Steel Frame Completed
In a sun-drenched ceremony to mark the completion of the Civic Arts Plaza’s steel frame, Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilman Frank Schillo signed a whitewashed beam and watched it hoisted into place Thursday afternoon.
Project manager Ed Johnduff hailed the moment as a “major milestone,” but said the naked steel frame will still be visible from the Ventura Freeway and Thousand Oaks Boulevard for at least 10 months.
The next step in constructing the $63.8-million facility, which will house an 1,800-seat auditorium, 400-seat theater and City Hall, will be to pour concrete floors, Johnduff said. Enclosing the frame with stucco walls won’t take place until early next year.
This winter’s drenching rains delayed the steelworkers by about a week, Johnduff said. But he said he is confident the project will be completed to open on schedule in the fall of 1994.
After Thursday’s brief ceremony, 100 workers from Maya Steel of Los Angeles celebrated hanging the final beam--known as “topping off” the structure--with a barbecue on the site.
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