Discussion Postponed on Marquee for Plaza

The Thousand Oaks City Council has decided to wait until Feb. 20 to consider allowing a large electronic marquee next to the Ventura Freeway to promote the Civic Arts Plaza.

Council members decided after 11 p.m. Tuesday to postpone debate on the sign because of the late hour. The council will not consider the issue next week because it plans to listen to residents’ concerns during a town hall meeting at Cal Lutheran University.

In addition to advertising top acts at the Charles E. Probst Center for the Performing Arts, the 40-foot-wide sign--which would be just east of the Civic Arts Plaza--may rotate the names of three sponsors on a small revolving billboard.

If council members approve the idea, suggested by the Civic Arts Plaza’s board of governors, it would go to the Planning Commission for more detailed consideration.

Under the sure-to-be controversial proposal, sponsors would pay for the marquee’s $467,000 cost and would each share display time on the billboard.

The plan also includes erecting large letters on the $64-million building itself, identifying it as the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza for the estimated 150,000 drivers who pass by the city hall and performing arts center every day, according to a city report.

The lettering would be on the south side of the Civic Arts Plaza and on the east end above the much-disputed copper curtain, according to Thousand Oaks architect Francisco Behr, who has designed the sign for free.