Mall Offering Tours During Construction

Buenaventura Mall officials have launched a “Talks and Tours” program in an effort to give local residents a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the mall’s current construction project.

Cayse Osterlund, the mall’s general manager, launched the program to inform residents how the 34-year-old mall is able to remain open while it undergoes a $100-million make-over.

Osterlund and members of his management team are offering tours to schools, civic organizations and community groups. The presentation, which uses site plans and architectural renderings, can also be made at schools or community meeting sites.

A group of 30 seventh-graders from Anacapa Middle School, across the street from the mall on Mills Road, recently participated in the program. Osterlund talked to the students about the importance of math and geometry to architects and engineers in the planning and construction process.

Then he led the students on a tour of the mall, stopping along the way to describe the details of the construction project, which will result in a new three-level parking structure, a 125,000-square-foot JCPenney department store, a 167,000-square-foot Sears and 165,000-square-foot Robinsons-May.

For more information about the program, contact Osterlund at 642-5530.