PIRU : Contract Awarded to Build New Center

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has awarded a $652,300 construction contract for a new Piru Community Center, with groundbreaking scheduled early next month.

McCarthy Construction of Oxnard was the low bidder for the contract, issued Monday for the 3,274-square-foot building on Orchard Street in Warring Park.

The site is occupied by dilapidated trailers that serve as the community center. The trailers were moved to Piru from the old Poli Street Government Center in Ventura more than 10 years ago.

The community center is primarily financed by $400,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds.

The county is picking up the remainder of the project’s cost from special district and recreation funds, Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee said in a statement.

Once completed, the building will have two large meeting rooms, two public restrooms, a commercial kitchen, storage rooms and an office. The kitchen will be designed for public use as well as to prepare food for the Senior Meal Program.

Plans for the center were developed by the Ventura County Parks Department in cooperation with the Piru Neighborhood Council and the Piru Recreation Commission.

“It’s been in the works for four years,” said Polly Bee, Kildee’s assistant. “The old facility is literally falling apart.”

The center will be built on the same site as the present facility. The trailers are scheduled to be demolished and users of the center will relocate to temporary facilities during construction, Kildee said.