District Decides to Save Auditorium

Moorpark school officials have decided not to demolish an aging auditorium at the site of the city’s now-abandoned high school.

A portion of the campus on Casey Road in the heart of town will be used to build a $6.5-million magnet elementary school. The rest of the property is being sold to a developer who plans to build about 100 homes.

The decision to save the 400-seat auditorium, which dates back to 1938, could end up costing the district, according to a report by Supt. Tom Duffy.

Duffy had suggested demolishing the building because it would save the district about $726,000 in grading costs, and because he estimated it would cost nearly $1 million extra to renovate the building.

But several school board members questioned those figures during a school board meeting Tuesday night and voted 4 to 0 to preserve the building. Board member Greg Barker abstained.

“It turns out that a lot of those numbers are very questionable,” board member Clint Harper said Wednesday.

Harper said the board has not yet decided to spend money on a renovation so the decision is not going to cost the district immediately.

“There is a possibility of turning the auditorium over to the city and making it into a community arts center,” he said.

The beaux arts-style building has already been seismically retrofitted but would require extensive renovation work because of its age and deteriorated condition, Harper said.

Local businessman Bruce Bear, who has children in the district, said the decision to save the auditorium could be a costly mistake.

“They should feel the pressure to make every dollar stretch as far as it can,” Bear said. “I don’t think we can afford the luxury of putting the district into that kind of a financial obligation for a landmark.”

The new elementary school is expected to be completed in September 1997 and will feature a preschool training center, district officials said.