SIMI VALLEY : Movie Ranch May Get Landmark Status

Hoping to make the Corriganville Movie Ranch more than just a footnote in Hollywood history, the Simi Valley City Council tonight will consider whether to add the property and its picturesque vistas to a list of 153 historical landmarks in the county.

The council delayed a decision on the matter in late July, and asked that it first go to the Rancho Simi Park District board of directors and the Rancho Simi Open Space Conservation Agency for approval.

“It was just a matter of protocol,” said Councilman Bill Davis, who also serves on the open space agency.

The agency gave its approval Thursday to plans to make the site a county historical landmark. The agency also wants to apply for state grants to do preliminary restoration at the park.

The hope is the designation will help bring attention and money to help pay for a partial restoration of the site, Davis said.

For years, a number of private groups have tried unsuccessfully to raise money to refurbish the site where more than 3,500 movies and television shows were filmed. First opened in 1937 by film star and stuntman Ray (Crash) Corrigan, and later owned by entertainer Bob Hope, the Old West movie sets and buildings used as backdrops were destroyed in the late 1960s by a series of fires. The park district bought the land soon after.