SANTA PAULA : Water District Buys Old Bank Building
The United Water Conservation District has purchased the former Security Pacific Bank building in Santa Paula and plans to relocate its headquarters there at the beginning of next year.
United recently purchased the 24,100-square-foot site at 737 E. Main St. for $350,000 after the merger between Security Pacific and Bank of America resulted in closure of the bank branch, a real estate official said.
“We’ve been looking for three years for a new facility,” United General Manager Frederick J. Gientke said. “The district has never had a permanent home.”
The district closed escrow on the structure two weeks ago, Gientke said, but doesn’t plan to move in until later. He said the district is instead focusing on a project to prevent seawater intrusion. That project, designed to protect the drinking water in the Fox Canyon Aquifer, is expected to start in July.
United has leased office space near the former bank building for years, Gientke said.
“I’ve had my eyes on it for a year and a half,” he said. “I think it will give us a permanent United-owned main office at a considerable cost savings.”
United manages all surface and ground-water resources in the 214,000-acre district and provides water to the cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme and other customers.
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