Supporters Rally Behind Children’s Science Museum : Government: Conversion of former City Hall is ideal, backers say. But city officials warn that they need to raise $13 million from a lease or sale.

Supporters of the proposed Ventura County Discovery Center urged the Thousand Oaks City Council on Tuesday night not to forget their ambitious plan to place a children’s science museum in the abandoned City Hall.

“We couldn’t have asked the good fairy to give us a better location for the Discovery Center,” said group member Linda Organ. “This is a win-win situation. This facility can once again be a source of city pride.”

The council met with city planners and residents Tuesday night for an informal study session on the future of 401 W. Hillcrest Drive, which was abandoned in 1988 because of asbestos contamination and has remained empty since. The building and 35 acres that surround it were given an assessed value of about $13 million several years ago.

City Manager Grant Brimhall stressed the importance of maximizing the city’s profit from selling the building. He explained that the city borrowed $13 million from its budget toward the $64-million construction costs of the Civic Arts Plaza--the new home of city government--expecting that the old City Hall would be sold.

That sale was delayed because of the decline in the real estate market. In the meantime, vandals moved into the building, spray-painted walls, broke windows and caused thousands of dollars in damages. Whether the property could still bring $13 million if it were sold today is in question. But Brimhall said the time has come to make a decision to either lease or sell the facility.

“We are at the point now where the council needs to decide what it wants to do,” Brimhall said.

John Prescott, assistant director of planning, presented the council during the study session Tuesday with a draft of its Specific Plan for the entire 62-acre parcel. The property includes the 35 acres with the two buildings that once housed city government offices as well as an adjoining 27 acres known as Fireworks Hill, an empty parcel where the city’s Fourth of July fireworks are launched every year.

Optional uses for the building include creating a home for the Discovery Center, which is only one of several proposals under consideration. At Tuesday’s meeting, however, it was certainly the most popular option. More than a dozen supporters appeared at the meeting wearing buttons touting “VCDC 401”--referring to the building’s address. But the Discovery Center also would be the least profitable tenant for the city, considering the year-old group is still without funding for its proposed $11.9-million project.

Discovery Center President Gary Elliott showed the council an architect’s rendering of the group’s plan, which would connect the two buildings with a large format movie screen, such as an IMAX or IWERKS cinema system.

“We’re here tonight because we would like to point out that our proposal would meet all aspects of the Specific Plan,” Elliott told the council.

The Specific Plan would allow for a variety of uses on the 62-acre site, including residential and commercial developments, such as corporate headquarters, medical offices, schools, universities, restaurants, art studios or galleries, dance studios, museums and hotels.

The plan closely follows recommendations made by a committee of residents in January 1994.

Seeking to limit the environmental impact of new construction, the plan only allows for the removal or transplanting of 30 out of 310 oak trees on the 62 acres. The remainder of the trees must be preserved.

Only areas of 25% slope or less can be graded or built on, and building heights would be limited to 35 feet. Planners want to limit traffic in and out of the area to no more than 3,500 average daily trips. Based on those standards, any corporate offices constructed would be limited to 267,000 square feet, general offices to 205,000 square feet and residential use up to 437 dwellings.