CSU Officials to Move to Hospital Site

Hoping to set off a stampede of investors interested in sharing space at Ventura County’s budding four-year university, Cal State University officials next week plan to move their headquarters to a shuttered mental hospital scheduled for conversion to a college campus next year.

Cal State officials said they plan to move into the administration building at Camarillo State Hospital next Thursday or Friday if they can hook up their phones and computers by then.

Although the Cal State University system won’t officially take over the hospital site until next summer, officials said they decided to plant the flag now in an effort to demonstrate their commitment to launching the local campus.

“There is still some skepticism in the minds of people who might be interested in renting space at the hospital site as to whether or not this project is going to go through,” said Handel Evans, president of the developing Channel Islands university.

“This will give some credibility to our efforts,” he said. “And that’s so important to the long-term goals of our venture.”

In September, the 24-member Cal State governing board agreed to take control of the state hospital property and convert it into the new home for the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge.

Under that plan, the satellite campus will remain an extension of the Northridge university until it attracts enough students and funding to support itself and become the 23rd campus in the Cal State University system.

The trustees’ vote was contingent on Gov. Pete Wilson’s willingness to contribute $6.5 million to operate the campus and turn a number of its Spanish-style buildings into classrooms and administrative offices.

That will enable the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge to relocate to the hospital property and open for business by January 1999.

But in order to expand the campus, university officials have long counted on attracting a variety of income-generating ventures to share space at the site.

That is why Cal State officials have been aggressively pursuing partnerships with businesses interested in leasing space at the campus, and thus helping to shoulder the financial burden of operating the university.

Evans said next week’s move, which involves himself and the four members of his staff, will help overcome a credibility gap that has developed over the years.

Because a campus has been talked about for more than three decades, some people are leery about whether it actually will happen this time.

“Having people occupy some of the space there is essential to our planning,” Evans said. “And I think that having people down there will help keep the place warm and active, and will prevent it from falling into disrepair.”