SIMI VALLEY : Target Date Set for Bottle Village Work

A group of Simi Valley residents has been given nearly two years to make the historic Bottle Village museum safe for the public.

The Planning Commission voted 5 to 0 last week to give the four-member Preserve Bottle Village Committee until July 1, 1993, to bring the museum into compliance with building and safety codes. Bottle Village, located at 4595 Cochran St., is a collection of 13 buildings and sculptures constructed from thousands of used bottles and other discarded materials. The museum, which has been designated a historic landmark by the city, the county and the state, has been closed to the public since 1982 because of unsafe conditions.

Tressa (Grandma) Prisbey built the village between 1956 and 1974, mainly using materials from the city dump.

Only some of the buildings in the village are large enough for people to enter, and these buildings are considered structurally unsound. In addition, they do not meet state earthquake safety standards.

Members of the Preserve Bottle Village Committee have said in the past that they have had trouble raising funds to restore the village.

The Planning Commission will consider further extensions if the committee fails to meet the July, 1993, deadline.