Ventura May Get Restored Building, New Library

After months of letters, phone calls and neighborhood meetings, west side residents may get what they have long dreamed of--a restored landmark, and a new, more centrally located Avenue Branch Library.

The Ventura City Council voted 6 to 0 Monday night to enter into the first phase of an agreement with landowners David and Donna Stewart to convert the crumbling Casa de Anza building on Ventura Avenue into commercial space and affordable rental apartments.

Councilman Gary Tuttle was absent.

During this phase of the agreement, the city will give the Stewarts an advance of $75,000 to begin developing designs, estimating costs and gathering bids for the reconstruction.

In addition to building low-income apartment units, the owners of Casa de Anza at 606 N. Ventura Ave. said they hope to place an expanded Avenue Branch Library in about 4,000 square feet on the first floor of the three-story brick building. The library would replace the cramped existing library.

On a night filled with good news for Avenue Library supporters, the vote on the Casa de Anza project brought the book-starved west side community one step closer to getting a better library facility.

Hours earlier, the City Council signed off on a deal that will channel $90,000 in federal funds to the less than 2,000-square-foot Avenue Branch Library.

The council then approved the Sycamore Village project on North Ventura Avenue. As part of that deal, the Neel family has agreed to donate $500,000 toward a fund to build a library on the Avenue.

Initially, the developer had proposed building the library as part of its project. But the developer has since agreed the money could be used for a library anywhere on the Avenue.

Lauri Flack, the head of the Westside Community Council, said Monday that she hopes the $500,000 will be used to build a library in the Casa de Anza building.

“We’ve tried to figure out where kids can get to on their bikes and that is real accessible,” Flack said, adding that the existing Avenue Branch Library is “like a closet,” so tightly packed that book browsers can’t even turn around. “I strongly support public investment in this building.”

Tom Figg, planning and redevelopment manager, called the library aspect of the plan “very promising.”

“In terms of location and the needs of the neighborhood, it certainly fits the bill,” he said.

Saving the prominent brick building that dominates the Avenue skyline has been a pet project of the Westside Community Council since last fall.

West side residents filled the council chambers earlier this year to urge the city to rehabilitate it.

In response, the City Council set aside $832,500 to transform Casa de Anza into low-income apartments. About 75% of that amount comes from federal housing funds; the remaining 25% would come from money the city has set aside for low-income housing, Figg said.

Although council members agreed to move forward with renovations, creating a new library in the Casa de Anza is not a done deal.

Councilmen Jim Monahan and Ray Di Guilio said they might like to see the Westside Police Storefront moved to the building, where it would be more visible. The law enforcement office is now at 110 N. Olive St., behind a Von’s supermarket.

The renovated building should be open by next July.

Flack also told the council that television crews will descend upon Casa de Anza later this week to shoot scenes for the a show, “Mike Hammer, Private Eye.” Filming is expected to continue for several weeks, she said.

“So, I guess we will be seeing more of the Casa de Anza than we all wanted to see,” she said.