Cleanup Work Starts at Former City Hall

Workers have began cleaning up half of the old City Hall building, the first step in a $1.86-million renovation that will serve as the new headquarters for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Penhall Co. of Camarillo was the sole bidder for the $42,600 cleanup project that will entail tearing down walls, leveling part of the concrete floor, and removing air pump units and other pieces of mechanical equipment that are no longer needed.

“It will take 20 days,” said Ed Johnduff, Thousand Oaks’ special projects manager. “It’s a nice first step in finally getting the building going.”

Johnduff predicted that 15 to 20 construction companies will bid for the job, which will add 2,000 square feet to the 18,000-square-foot building. Bidding will begin next week, with the award announced in early August.

The building will be ready for occupancy in late fall, he said.

Renovations include installing a handicapped-accessible elevator, new carpeting, lighting, heating and air-conditioning, as well as replacing shattered windows and fixing the ceiling.

The recreation area’s 72 administrators, biologists, park rangers and as many as 15 interns will move into the new headquarters on West Hillcrest Drive from their Agoura Hills office.

“The city’s wanted to have somebody use that site for a long time,” Johnduff said.

The City Council in March approved the use of $1.86 million from the General Fund to renovate the smaller of the old City Hall’s two structures, known as the “south building.” The other building is used as a city storage facility.

The General Services Administration, the federal government’s purchasing arm, will reimburse the city for its costs under a five-year lease, calling for $411,840 annually. The GSA holds another three-year option.

Constructed in 1974, the south building and adjacent 36,000-square-foot north building were vacated 14 years later due to lack of space.

In the years that followed, people broke into the south building and left behind empty beer cans, broken windows and graffiti-marked walls. But the broken glass and inscriptions were removed a couple of years ago, and a chain-link fence was placed around the building.

“We haven’t had any problems since then,” Johnduff said.