Arts Plaza Panel Seeks City Aid for Additions

Arguing that the Civic Arts Plaza just doesn’t stand out enough, the performing arts center’s steering committee is asking the City Council to share the cost of adorning the building’s exterior with freeway signs, flags and lights as part of a $1.3-million improvement package.

The additions to the much-debated City Hall and performing arts venue, which has already cost taxpayers more than $87 million in land and construction expenses, would also include adding restrooms to the adjoining park and upgrading fire suppression and cooling systems.

The proposals are part of a draft, two-year, $57.8-million capital improvement budget that the Thousand Oaks council will examine Tuesday with the Community Budget Task Force.

The budget is the city’s blueprint for spending on facilities and infrastructure, including water-main repairs and building renovations. Also among the projects up for discussion Tuesday are building a pedestrian/bike path along the Arroyo Conejo, adding 16 traffic signals or stop signs, and upgrading the Thousand Oaks Teen Center and Goebel Senior Center.

Council members and the task force will discuss the budgets for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 fiscal years, and city officials will then return to the council with the final capital budget later this spring.

Theaters Director Tom Mitze said in a report to the City Council that the costs of the Civic Arts Plaza improvements, recommended by the plaza’s board of governors, would be shared by the city and the Alliance of the Arts, the center’s fund-raising arm. The alliance would reimburse the city for about $400,000 of the work.

The money would be used to:

* Build a sign identifying the Civic Arts Plaza above or beside the copper curtain, the brown public artwork on the east side of the building, along with a similar sign on the south wall and possibly one on the parking structure. The signs would be large enough for drivers on the north and south lanes of the Ventura Freeway to read.

* Erect a series of flagpoles or banners around Civic Arts Plaza Drive and the plaza cul-de-sac “heralding the entrance” to the Civic Arts Plaza to identify it as a community landmark. The flags or banners would change in accordance with certain holidays or celebrations.

* Build a large glass canopy over the cul-de-sac to provide patrons with more of a sense of arrival, as well as shelter from the elements.

* Install a series of decorative bricks or stamped concrete in the cul-de-sac area to enhance its aesthetics, making sure not to compromise access for the disabled.

* Upgrade the tree lighting throughout the Civic Arts Plaza’s park area to make it similar to the lighting at the Promenade at Westlake shopping center.

* Build restrooms, changing rooms and a drinking fountain at the park.

* Paint and decorate the Civic Arts Plaza’s large parking garage.

* Add decorative lighting to the Times Plaza in front of the entrance to the Charles E. Probst Center for the Performing Arts, as well as the plaza outside the main City Hall lobby entrance.

* Install colorful underwater lights in the Civic Arts Plaza’s large outdoor reflecting pool.

* Add architectural lights to enhance the building’s entrances.

* Redesign the Civic Arts Plaza’s cooling system to increase efficiency and reduce energy costs.

* Improve the building’s fire suppression system.

Mayor Judy Lazar said the exterior of the Civic Arts Plaza is clearly in need of improvement, but just how much the city can afford to do right away is unclear.

“Improving the entrance and the sense of arrival at the theaters is something I would very much like to do,” Lazar said. “We probably can’t do it all in one fell swoop, but we should plan a budget to take care of these things.”

Lazar added that she felt strongly about painting the Civic Arts Plaza’s parking garage, which was left in the natural concrete color after construction, and sprucing up the park in hope that it would become more like the area near the Hollywood Bowl, with people eating picnics outside prior to performances.

Councilman Andy Fox said he too considered the improvements worthwhile. He said he thinks city leaders need to solicit a lot of input from the public before placing any signs on the building. In his opinion, there will be controversy surrounding whatever the council does, so the more council members can learn about community sentiment, the better.

“I think those cosmetic things would be beneficial, and some of those things to jazz it up could be paid for by the alliance, not the city,” Fox said. “But the signage on the freeway, we need to approach that cautiously, with community approval.

“The people paid dearly for this, and they need to have a say in what we do there,” he added. “The last thing we want to do is make things worse.”

Councilman Mike Markey said he is not concerned with the old debate about the decision to build the Civic Arts Plaza and how much it cost taxpayers.

As a current elected leader, he said his duty is simply to make the building work, and to that end, he has proposed building an elevator in the outdoor light well area of the building to make it easier to navigate. The elevator is also part of the proposed improvements.

“Signage is something we definitely need, and I definitely support that. Anything to make the building better is good. I’m not hung up on the controversy surrounding the building. I wasn’t on the council then. I just want to make things better.”