Ground Cleared on Calabasas Activity Center

Last week, the future home of the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center was cloaked by thigh-high weeds. But by Monday, the earth was finally visible and ground for the new center was officially broken.

“They’re out there grubbing, which means they’re clearing the weeds and debris off the site,” said Greg Johnson, the Calabasas community services director.

The center will be erected next to the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Malibu Hills Road, on the border of Agoura Hills and Calabasas. The two cities approved a $4.6-million contract with Encino-based Fassberg Construction to build the 30,000-square-foot center. The one-story structure is expected to be completed in about a year.

“We’ve been working on this for 2 1/2 years at least, maybe longer,” Johnson said. “I can’t even remember how long we’ve been working on it, so it is exciting to be at the point where we’re getting into the ground.”

The new center will feature a gymnasium, a weight room, a dance room, three meeting rooms (which can be converted into a single large chamber) and an activity room, Johnson said. Agoura Hills and Calabasas are also trying to raise money for another item on the center’s wish list--a climbing wall, to be built adjacent to the gymnasium.

Johnson said the cities hope to raise roughly $1 million more, including $500,000 from the state, to pay for additional construction costs, furnishings and equipment.