CALABASAS/AGOURA HILLS : Plans for Shared Project Move Ahead

With a unanimous vote, the neighboring cities of Agoura Hills and Calabasas have moved forward on a joint project to build a gymnasium and community center to serve their region.

At an unusual meeting of both city councils last week, the proposal to pool Los Angeles County bond money available to both cities to build a gym behind the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station got a 10-0 vote, said Calabasas Community Services Director Greg Johnson.

“There seems to be a great enthusiasm for the project,” Johnson said. “Now what we need is permission to use the land.”

Staff from both cities will begin negotiating with the county, which owns the 15-acre parcel, to either buy the property or use it under a special agreement, Johnson said. If all goes smoothly, the gym could be completed by 1995, he said.

Although the details have yet to be worked out, officials are considering a deal in which the cities would pitch in $1.4 million each for the project, Johnson said. Rough plans for the gym include basketball and volleyball courts, showers, a weight room, meeting rooms and a kitchen on about five acres of the land.

The site, which is in Calabasas near the Agoura Hills border, would be convenient for residents of both cities, as well as unincorporated areas, Johnson said. City officials envision a range of activities at the center, including sports leagues, individual training, night classes and community meetings.

The effort is part of a growing collaboration between the two cities, which are moving in tandem to ban smoking in restaurants and have proposed joining forces to build a regional library in Agoura Hills.

“This could be used as a model for other cities,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t happen very often. A lot of cities kind of keep to themselves, but we’re finding it very helpful to work together.”