Simi Planners Weigh Granting Permit for Corriganville Park : Restoration: Officials hope to apply for government grants to build the $4-million project at the 204-acre former Western filming site.

Simi Valley planning officials tonight will consider granting a permit for the proposed Corriganville Park, a 204-acre property that city officials hope to restore to its glory as a Western movie set.

A permit is needed to apply for state and federal grants to build the $4-million project, said Don Hunt, assistant general manager of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.

The financially strapped park district does not have money for the construction of public facilities planned for the park, and private fund-raising committees have struggled so far to raise enough to rebuild old movie sets that burned down in 1970, Hunt said.

“We would like to attract the movie industry to do some filming on-site, which would require some set restoration,” Hunt said. “That would assist us in replicating at least the facades of the old Western town that was there.”

Thousands of movies and television episodes were shot at Corriganville during the 1940s and ‘50s. For nearly 20 years, the property was also used as a Wild West amusement park until it closed to the public in 1967.

Now, Hunt said, “there’s just some old foundations where the buildings had been before they burned down.”

The property is in eastern Simi Valley, east of Kuehner Drive between the Simi Valley Freeway and the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The land was purchased jointly by the city and park district in 1988.

The ranch is named for its former owner, Hollywood stuntman Ray (Crash) Corrigan, who operated it at the height of its use as a movie set and theme park where stunt shows were performed daily for the public.

During its heyday, the ranch was used as a frontier backdrop for John Wayne in the movie “Fort Apache” and for James Arness in the television series “Gunsmoke.” By the time it opened to the public, real buildings instead of fake fronts made up the five-acre “old town” section of the ranch, Hunt said.

The park district plans to build a visitors center to anchor what officials hope will someday be a rebuilt old town, Hunt said. But private money will have to pay for a separate $5-million project to replace the destroyed movie set, Hunt said.

Park officials plan to reconstruct a replica of a Sherwood Forest glade or the Fort Apache set used in numerous films. Other improvements planned by the park district include picnic areas, a horse corral and stable, and an outdoor amphitheater.

Two groups had been trying to raise money to restore the old Western town, but one is no longer active because donations were slow to come in, said Colleen Eklund, the group’s former treasurer.

“There really hasn’t been all that much interest in it,” Eklund said, citing the economy as the reason that people haven’t opened their pocketbooks.

Steve Gillum, a Hollywood stuntman spearheading the continuing effort, said he will continue the push begun five years ago to raise the money even though no benefactor has stepped forward.

“I’d like to see it all done within another five years, but it’s hard to say,” said Gillum, 45, who credits his experience working at the old Corriganville amusement park with sparking his interest in show business.

“I just hope when it’s finished, I’m not too old to go see it,” he said.

The Planning Commission will consider the park plans at its meeting at 7 tonight at Simi Valley City Hall.