THOUSAND OAKS : Civic Arts Plaza Plans Open House

Hard hats will be the required dress Saturday when the public is invited to tour the Civic Arts Plaza under construction in Thousand Oaks.

Visitors stopping by the site for the second annual open house will be invited on 30-minute hard-hat tours of the performing arts and government center. Guided tours will leave every 10 minutes between 11 a.m and 3:30 p.m., winding through the skeletal building and past dozens of entertainment stations featuring local musicians, actors and dancers.

The Civic Arts Plaza, off Thousand Oaks Boulevard at Conejo School Road, will open next fall, and already the building’s rough outlines are visible. Spectators will be able to see the stage and seating areas for the 1,800-seat auditorium and 400-seat theater, as well as the placement of the outdoor reflecting pool and other features.

Organizers expect about 2,000 people to attend the daylong festivities, which will showcase high school choirs, Chinese ribbon dancers, the Conejo Symphony’s brass ensemble, children’s theater groups and dozens of other performers. Also on Saturday, children will be able to pick up entry forms for the performing arts center’s first coloring contest, entitled “Picture Yourself at the Civic Arts Plaza.” For more information, call the Alliance for the Arts at 379-1966.