Couple Pledge $3 Million to Civic Arts Plaza

Singer-composer Richard Carpenter and his wife, Mary, have pledged $3 million to Alliance for the Arts, the fundraising entity of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, officials of the organization said.

The donation is the largest individual gift that the organization has received in its 10-year history, officials said. The organization will recognize the couple as distinguished grand patrons, and the park at the Thousand Oaks venue will be renamed the Mary and Richard Carpenter Plaza Park.

The couple and their five children moved to Thousand Oaks in 2000. Last year, the Carpenters donated a Yamaha concert grand piano to the arts center.

Richard Carpenter and his sister, Karen, rose to fame during the 1970s as the pop duo the Carpenters.

Since its inception, Alliance for the Arts has raised $25 million in support of the two performance theaters at the Civic Arts Plaza. The organization’s goal is to raise $30 million by next year, officials said.