County Landmark Is on the Rebound : Santa Paula: Repairs are being made on the Glen Tavern Inn. Site will reopen as a school for Japanese students.

The Japanese owners of Santa Paula’s historic Glen Tavern Inn are refurbishing the dilapidated structure and plan to reopen it as a school for the study of Western culture, representatives said Monday.

The decision to reopen the school came to light Monday, two months after Santa Paula officials nearly took the owners to court over safety violations that had prompted the city to cut off the building’s utilities.

“The building should be in a position to be occupied fairly shortly,” said Joseph Deering, a Santa Monica attorney who represents the owners. The first class of students could arrive by late summer, he said.

Once a destination of Hollywood celebrities from Clark Gable and Carole Lombard to Rin Tin Tin, the 82-year-old, Tudor-style inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an officially recognized Ventura County Landmark.

After passing through the hands of numerous owners, the 41-room inn was purchased in 1989 by Tokyo International College for slightly more than $2 million and was converted to a school. During the next three years, Japanese students visited the Santa Paula site for eight-week sessions studying the English language and American culture.

But a disappointing number of students led to mounting financial problems for the program. Last year, officials of Tokyo International College--a business school with 13 branches in Japan, Korea and Taiwan--closed the center’s doors and put the building up for sale.

The school blamed some of its problems on program administrator Russ McNiff of Thousand Oaks, who was fired. McNiff has sued the college, alleging that he was wrongfully dismissed.

Compounding the school’s financial problems are unpaid property taxes and interest that amounted to $57,466 on Monday, said John McKinney of the Ventura County tax collector’s office.

Though listed at $1.5 million--well below its purchase price--the Glen Tavern Inn remained unsold as city officials applied pressure on the college to repair the landmark. City officials discovered problems with the building’s electrical and plumbing systems, and ordered the school to make repairs.

The city shut off water and ordered the school to erect a fence around the building to prevent injury to the public.

In April, one day before a city attorney said she was prepared to file criminal charges, contractors hired by the college began repairs.

“I would say that within 60 days they’ll be finished with everything,” said Jim Scheidt, a Santa Paula building inspector.

After spending more than $50,000 already to repair the wiring, plumbing, and roof, school officials again see the historic tavern as an asset, Deering said.

“They are saying, ‘If we have to do this, we may as well open it up again,’ ” said Anita Pulido of Coldwell Banker, Citrus Valley Realtors, which sold the inn to the school in 1989 and has attempted to find a new buyer this year.

Negotiations with three parties that have expressed interest in purchasing the Glen Tavern Inn have been put on hold until she receives different signals from Tokyo, Pulido said.

In the meantime, the refurbished hotel is again becoming a town showcase, she said. “The grand old lady is shining again, and she’s beginning to smile,” Pulido said.