Panel Refuses Grant to Help Buy 22 Acres
The agency set up to manage Simi Valley’s open space has turned down a state grant to help purchase old wagon trails that lead into the historic Corriganville Movie Ranch.
The Rancho Simi Open Space Conservation Agency decided to forgo the $64,000 state grant.
“Why buy land that’s worthless?” said Councilman Bill Davis, who serves on the board along with Councilwoman Barbara Williamson, two members of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District and one member of the public.
Davis said the 22 acres were too steep to be useful and that because the acreage crosses a railroad track, converting it into a hiking trail would be dangerous.
Some members of the park district and others wanted to preserve the strip of land, which abuts the railroad tracks near Smith Road on the eastern edge of the 225-acre Corriganville Park, to be used as a wildlife corridor.
Until it burned down in the 1970s, Corriganville was filled with movie sets that were used from the 1930s to the ‘60s.
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