Council Approves Peirano Building Renovation Plan

VENTURA —  In a long-awaited first step toward restoring the crumbling Peirano grocery building, the City Council on Monday night approved a proposal to renovate the city-owned building.

Acting as the city Redevelopment Agency board, the council unanimously voted to move forward with a plan by Oxnard-based developer KL Equities to rehabilitate the 120-year-old building on the west end of Main Street to prepare it for a new use.

Among other projects in which KL Equities has been involved are the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and Heritage Square in Oxnard.

City officials hope the renovated building will serve as an economic catalyst at the west end of downtown to match the 10-screen theater under construction on the east end.

Restaurant creator and manager Jonathan Enabnit--who opened Nona’s Courtyard Cafe on California Street--has expressed strong interest in the building. He says he hopes to open a Mediterranean restaurant there by May.

Local preservationists and City Council members were pleased that at long last something would be done with the disintegrating landmark.

The reconstruction project will cost $783,000.

The city bought the building in 1987 from the Peirano family for $150,000, and the grocery has sat boarded up and empty since then as the city debated what to do with it.

“It’s time to either tear it down or fix it,” said Councilman Gary Tuttle, adding that he strongly supports the latter choice. “It’s been a sort of political embarrassment for a lot of council people.”

Councilman Jim Friedman said it is important to repair Peirano’s so that it will complement the $15 million the city has already pumped into downtown.

And Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said she would love to see a restaurant there. “The ambience is really special,” she said.