Repairs to Thousand Oaks Plaza Won’t Be Made Soon

When it rains, the large red buckets marked “Official Leak Catchers” are a necessity in the lobby of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza--and will continue to be so for a while.

Repairs are not forthcoming for the air-conditioning system that doesn’t work efficiently nor for the cracks in the exterior walls of the $63.8-million facility, which is less than five years old.

Before the problems are fixed, the city must get a handle on the extent of the building’s deficiencies and on who is responsible.

The city has sued about two dozen contractors, materials suppliers, engineers and consultants--anyone involved with the facility’s construction. The city is in mediation with some firms, but numerous counterclaims have also been filed.

Most recently, Lehrer McGovern Bovis of California Inc., the project management consultant expecting $2.4 million from the city, filed a claim July 26 maintaining the city violated its 1990 agreement by holding the company responsible for problems with the arts plaza.

The arts plaza has been flawed from almost the first day it opened in October 1994, and City Atty. Mark Sellers said Thousand Oaks wants it repaired.

“We are trying to find out what’s really causing the problem and who is really liable for fixing the problem and what is going to be fixed,” he said.

Water leaks, which are still being investigated, are in many locations throughout the building, with water following pipes and other parts of the facility’s infrastructure to places far from where the water infiltrated the building.

“The roof is fine, it is everything else that leaks,” said Tom Hare, city facilities manager. “There is no acrimonious relationship between us and the contractors. We are just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Nonetheless, Edward Schmitt, an attorney representing Lehrer McGovern Bovis, said it might sue the city.

“My client would have preferred to work with the city to resolve this,” he said. “That’s not how it worked out; [my client] got sued.”