IRVINE : Community Offered New Meeting Rooms

New meeting rooms at the Irvine Marketplace and Woodbridge Village Shopping Center are becoming available for use by local community groups, schools and other nonprofit organizations.

Last week, the Irvine Co. opened a 100-person capacity room at the Marketplace across from UC Irvine. On Thursday, the developer will open a 50-person conference room at the Woodbridge center, said Barbara Roppolo, director of marketing for Irvine Retail Properties Co., a division of the Irvine Co.

The company built the meeting rooms after hearing from groups that contended that there were not enough places to hold regular or occasional meetings, Roppolo said.

Building the conference rooms and opening them to the public is part of a plan to make the shopping centers more active and attractive places for residents and businesses, she said.

The carpeted community rooms are equipped with chairs, tables, coffee machines and blackboards. The rooms will be available for community meetings from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Irvine residents will be able to reserve a room for a maximum of four hours, once a week.

A cleaning deposit might be required in some cases, Roppolo said, but otherwise groups will not be charged for using the rooms. To reserve a room at the Marketplace, call (714) 854-3779. For Woodbridge, call (714) 857-2606.