Rising costs threaten to upstage construction of theater
Latest price tag is $3 million more than C4 bond allocation
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Pedro Avila will keep working until someone tells him to stop.

Despite hurdles in plans to build a new auditorium at Santa Susana High School, Avila, director of facilities and property for Simi Valley Unified School District, preaches patience to those in the community who feel construction should have already begun on the 12,730-square-foot theater.

"Everybody would love to see it done yesterday," Avila said. "These things don't get done overnight. . . . It always takes longer than expected, and it's always more expensive than what was originally planned."

At the moment, the high school's auditorium project needs two things if it's ever going to see opening night: more money to fund the project and final approval of the theater's structural safety by the Division of the State Architect (DSA).

As time passes, costs rise

In the original C4 Bond, passed by Simi Valley voters in 2004, a new auditorium for Santa Susana was allocated $8.6 million. After a reorganization of the bond in February 2006, the money specifically set aside for the project was reduced to $7.7 million.

"There was an escalation on construction costs in 2006," Avila said. "Our projects in the summer of 2006 were coming 30 to 40 percent over budget. It was a big shock to handle. . . . We had to adjust the budget to handle inflation."

The latest estimate from Bernards Brothers Construction Inc. puts the cost of the auditorium at $10.6 million, nearly $3 million more than what is available for the project. A San Fernando general contractor, Bernards was hired solely to give the district a cost estimate of the proposed auditorium.

Avila called the estimate accurate- close to the $10.3-million figure offered by HMC Architects, the group that drew up plans for the new auditorium.

"We are looking to see how we can fund (the shortfall) by using additional funds," said Lowell Schultze, associate superintendent of business and services.

The auditorium's funding, Schultze said, has to come out of the C4 bond coffer, where about $136 million remains to be spent.

Santa Susana cannot use for their auditorium funds allocated for other schools in Simi Valley unless the current projects at those schools are all finished and money is left over. Even then, there is no guarantee about the amount that will be left in the fund.

The magnet school may be eligible to receive money from housing developers, who must pay Simi Unified $2.63 per square foot of new construction. Developers' fees, generally reserved strictly to pay for classrooms, could possibly fund a portion of the building, Avila said, because a small workspace in the rear of the proposed theater can be considered a classroom.

There's also a small chance the auditorium could receive money from the general fund, but Schultze said that is a remote and unlikely scenario.

Simi Valley Unified, including Santa Susana High, is eligible for state matching funds only for modernization of existing facilities, Avila said- not for new construction.

Lying in wait

Meanwhile, teachers and students at SSHS are getting restless.

"We've been waiting long enough," said Melissa Albertson, head instructor of the theater department.

The school currently uses a stage in its cafeteria for productions, but sound, lighting and seating are less than ideal, she said. If there's a play in her classroom, 90 people can squeeze in, but she has to worry about fire safety, not just putting on a good show.

"It's not the same as a real theater," Albertson said.

Funding hasn't been the only holdup.

Simi Unified has been waiting 15 months for DSA approval of the building's fire and earthquake safety specs. Normally, projects are approved by the state within nine months, but the architects have been inundated with work throughout California, according to Avila. He hopes to get final approval in January.

Projects at the other local high schools are also awaiting DSA approval. In one such instance, even though the track and field at Simi High got a facelift, the bleachers- considered a structure- are still looking for a clean bill of health.

Avila stressed that no project or school gets preferential treatment.

"DSA controls the issue," he said. "We have to wait our turn in line like everyone else."

Santa Susana Principal Pam Carter remains optimistic that the district will come up with the necessary funds. The project will not move forward if the funding isn't available.

"There are a lot of what-ifs. But I've got to believe it's going to happen," Carter said. "You can only go by what people in the district are telling you, and every indication is that they will find the money. . . . I think people are anxious. I just tell them to hang in there because it's a process."

Unique building

The plan for the auditorium includes 420 fixed seats, a lobby, a stage, an orchestra pit, a stagecraft room for teaching or constructing sets, dressing rooms and a sound and control room. A new parking lot is also part of the project.

"It's a unique building," Avila said. "There's nothing else like it in the district. You can't massproduce this like a Ford car. It's a unique object, and it's a onceina-lifetime thing."

Albertson said she looks forward to the day when performances will take place under the bright lights of a new stage.

"It's not just for our kids, it's for the community as well," she said. "The kids are the ones that have been promised an auditorium. They're waiting with bated breath. . . . We want to perform on a real stage."

Avila is plowing ahead as if it's business as usual. He expects construction to begin by next fall.

"Until someone tells me to stop, I'm still moving forward," he said.