Simi Weighs Contract for Youth Club’s New Building : Finance: City staff backs $2.5-million bid from Oxnard firm to construct Boys & Girls facility, delayed by a legal battle.

After years of delays due to court battles, the Simi Valley City Council is scheduled tonight to vote on a contract to construct a new Boys & Girls Club building near the city’s Civic Center.

A number of contractors bid on the project, but city staff is recommending that the council approve a bid from Oxnard-based Viola Construction for about $2.5 million, Deputy City Manager Brian Gabler said. Contractors from all over Southern California submitted bids ranging from $2.5 million to about $3 million, he said.

Viola Construction built the Simi Valley Senior Center and Simi Valley’s library, Gabler said. If the council decides to award Viola the contract to build the new club, construction would likely take about a year.

Club officials said they are eager to get the project under way.

“We are ecstatic about finally getting started,” said club President Linda White. “I can’t wait to get the keys for the new building.”

The project was initially set for construction in 1992. But it was held up by a legal dispute with a neighboring property owner, Lloyd Green of CPC Enterprises, who argued that the new club would block his view. After an extended legal battle, the state Supreme Court finally refused to hear Green’s appeal, throwing out the case last May.

“I believe we have a good bid here,” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “I just think it would have been much better if we had been able to accept bids three years ago, when we were supposed to.”

The city will pay for construction of the 25,000-square-foot building, and then lease the property back to the Boys & Girls Club over 50 years. During that time, the club will repay $1.5 million of the construction costs, White said.

“The city has been very generous to us,” she said.

Club directors plan to soon begin a campaign to raise money to help make payments on the new building, White said.

The club, located in an old elementary school, has reached its capacity, White said. It accommodates more than 100 students a day during the school year and as many as 200 a day in the summer, she said. Students are often turned away during the summer due to lack of room.

The new club will be twice the size of the old one. Plans for the structure include a full-size gymnasium, a game room, an arts-and-crafts room and a recreation area, White said. The new structure will be built on city-owned property at Rancho Tapo Community Park, which has outdoor basketball courts and a baseball diamond.

“I have plans, artists’ renderings and sketches pasted up all over my office walls,” White said. “The kids ask me daily when we are moving to the new building. They’re really excited about it.”