College Media Center Plans Underway

Plans are underway for a $1-million, 6,000-square-foot media center to be built by 2003 at Ventura College for use by the public.

The facility would include a studio, editing bays, computer and camera equipment and technical staff members.

City officials hope the facility results in more public-access programming, said Jenise Wagar, Ventura’s marketing and public affairs manager. Now aired on Channel 6, such programming could be expanded across three channels--education, government and general interest broadcasting--on both cable companies that serve the city.

Community Access Partners of San Buenaventura, a nonprofit group of government and civic representatives, has been established to oversee the expanded programming, said Wagar, who sits on the group’s 11-member board.

The group would get its funding--about $1 million for construction and an annual operating budget of about $350,000--from a number of sources. These include payments from the city’s cable franchises, Avenue TV Cable and Adelphia Communications, as well as a portion of subscriber surcharges.

Talks are underway for Ventura College to donate land for the facility, Wagar said. For more information, call Patrick Shelby, the group’s cable program coordinator, at 677-3948.