Concern Raised Plaza’s Copper Curtain May Not Always Sparkle : Thousand Oaks: The outdoor strips will eventually age and turn green, unless, some say, sealants are applied.

It’s not easy being green. Not if you’re a copper curtain cascading down the eastern wall of Thousand Oaks’ Civic Arts Plaza.

Actually, the copper curtain isn’t green--not yet. It’s still shimmering with new-penny sheen. But like most copper, the 2,016 skinny strips will eventually turn green. And Councilwoman Judy Lazar worries about that.

“It will lose that ability to reflect light,” she said. “Especially at night, it’s really spectacular.”

Although project manager Ed Johnduff believes the curtain’s tawny complexion will last a good two decades, Lazar asked city staff members Tuesday to search for sealants that could be applied now to preserve the coppery glint.

Only Councilwoman Elois Zeanah objected, arguing that a protective coating would amount to “another unplanned expense” and would bump up the cost of the $150,000 curtain.

“Life is made up of unplanned events,” Lazar responded. “If we don’t inform ourselves about our options, we won’t be able to avail ourselves of them.”

To some artists, that would be just as well.

They would love the curtain to turn green, to echo the zebra-striped green glass wall near the council chamber and the tumble of green plants that will soon adorn the outdoor plazas.

“It would give a lot of character to the building,” said Howard Leong, a local jeweler and arts commissioner. “Now it just looks . . . brownish.’

When architect Antoine Predock designed the one-of-a-kind curtain, he also envisioned the copper fading over time.

Predock, who won the architectural contract by promising that his design would express the spirit of the Conejo Valley, believes the Civic Arts Plaza should reflect the past and future of Thousand Oaks. How better to carry out that philosophy, he said, than to allow the environment to shape the copper curtain.

“To me, whatever patina evolves in that climate is how it’s supposed to be,” Predock said. “As far as I’m concerned, it should be allowed to weather naturally. I think it’ll still shimmer--it doesn’t have to be shiny-penny new to catch the light.”

No council member has yet committed to preserving the copper curtain’s shine with sealant. And indeed, the logistics and price may prove daunting.

An early plan to tint the copper panels with blotches of dark green, purple and blue flopped when every batch of dye turned the strips a garish turquoise, project manager Johnduff said. He noted that council members had initially asked for a multihued patina--and now they’re considering a sealant that would prevent those green-blue colors from emerging.

“We put it up raw, and when we unveiled it everyone goes, ‘Oh, that’s great, the copper is a really neat color,’ ” he said.

As the two-year Civic Arts Plaza construction project enters its final month, council members and residents have started suggesting many small changes to improve the complex.

Along with the curtain sealant, for instance, Councilwoman Lazar has said she would like to investigate how to spruce up the unfinished concrete walls on the first floor of the City Hall building. And many residents have urged the city to paint the industrial gray parking garage.

Staff will look into all such concerns and bring back a list of options for council consideration, City Manager Grant Brimhall said.

But as the man in charge of bringing in the project on time and under budget, Johnduff worries about the flurry of last-minute tinkering.

The contingency fund, which once topped $3.5 million, has been tapped by various add-on purchases, and Johnduff said he is not sure how much cushion remains. He won’t know the final balance, he said, until all the bills are paid.

“If you throw a lot of things at the job at the very end, even though they might be small costs . . . you’re putting yourself in trouble,” Johnduff warned. “It’s not smart fiscal policy.”