Donations Swamp Arts Plaza Fund-Raisers : Thousand Oaks: Two new phone lines are added to handle the unprecedented surge in interest.

Swamped with calls, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza fund-raisers on Thursday added two new phone lines to help them handle an unprecedented surge in donations.

“It’s been phenomenal, the amount of interest and activity,” said Stephen Woodworth, who heads up the Alliance for the Arts fund-raising campaign. “We can’t handle all the calls.”

The two new lines will double the Alliance for the Arts’ phone capacity. And, alliance officials say, it’s not a moment too soon.

As the Civic Arts Plaza nears completion, residents are starting to realize the cultural center’s potential. This week’s reports about the inaugural season schedule--which includes performances by magician David Copperfield, comedian Bill Cosby, and country singer Willie Nelson--have fanned the enthusiasm.

“Before, I don’t think people had an idea of the quality of programming they would see in their own back yard,” fund-raiser Martha Zilm said.

Zilm has accepted a full-time job as donor relations coordinator for the Alliance for the Arts. But this week, she has found it tough to perform her duties.

The phone’s been ringing so incessantly that Zilm hasn’t even been able to get a dial tone to call out.

“I cannot tell you how much the phones are ringing--just constantly,” she said over the phone as a nonstop jangling in the background proved her point.

“We’ve probably been receiving hundreds of calls a day.”

Some of the calls, of course, have little to do with fund raising. Residents call demanding tickets, inquiring about the grand opening or simply wondering about construction progress on the $64-million cultural center.

But even the merely curious sometimes end up opening their wallets.

Volunteers have so far sold more than 3,000 bricks in their “Brick Buy Brick” campaign. A $50 gift buys a brick embossed with a name or company logo--a brick that will sit permanently in a walkway outside the Civic Arts Plaza.

Shunning a shot at immortality, a few donors have decided not to engrave their own names on the bricks. Instead, they have gone for a bit of whimsy. One brick will bear the name Wonder Woman. Another proclaims: Ms. Dragon Bait and Mr. Woodpecker. A third is labeled Most Loved Twinkie.

City Council candidate Lance Winslow, who owns the Car Wash Guys, bought a brick and named it Rush Limbaugh. “I’m not a big fan of his,” Winslow said, “but I figured he would have a lot to say about the Civic Arts Plaza. I thought it may get a couple of laughs.”

Those who would prefer not to see their names trodden underfoot can plaster their monikers on plaques in the civic auditorium. For $1,000, donors can buy a name plaque to be mounted on the back of one of the plush, violet-hued chairs.

At least 485 people have bought chairs so far, including every department head in Thousand Oaks City Hall.

Between the seats and the bricks and the major corporate donations, fund-raisers have gathered more than $5 million in cash and pledges. They expect to collect $7 million by opening night in October, and reach the goal of a $10-million endowment by next spring.

“We’re so busy that all our staff and volunteers at the alliance are under a lot of strain these days,” Woodworth said. “Needless to say, this is the kind of strain we like.”

FYI

The Alliance for the Arts now has four phone lines operating on three numbers: 379-1966, 371-1387, 371-1388. For tickets, call the temporary box office in The Oaks mall at 449-ARTS. For grand opening information, call the city at 496-8688.