Reagan Library Plans OKd; Work Scheduled to Start in Late November

The Ventura County Planning Commission on Thursday cleared the way for construction of the $45-million Ronald Reagan presidential library to begin on a 100-acre site near Simi Valley by the end of November.

The commission unanimously approved plans for the library after holding a public hearing at which no opposition to the project surfaced. The decision can be appealed to the county Board of Supervisors within 10 days.

Representatives of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation said that if no appeal is filed, construction will begin on the Madera Road site within two months, and the library will be completed by early 1992.

“We had hoped to have the library finished while the President was still in office because it would have been ideal for him to continue his life in public service by moving straight into an office in the library,” said Robert Higdon, the foundation’s director of finance. “But we’re grateful to be able to begin construction while he is still in office.”

Earlier this month, environmentalists and foundation officials resolved differences that threatened to delay construction. At the environmentalists’ request, the foundation agreed to protect three rare plant species and to open the library to the general public at 10 a.m., instead of 9 a.m., to avoid rush-hour traffic.

The foundation also agreed to consider using shuttle buses to transport visitors to the library and to create a five-member citizens advisory group, which it promised to consult on a variety of issues, including how many days a week the library will be open.

The foundation won approval Thursday to allow the library to operate seven days a week, but foundation officials said the number of days could change after negotiations with the citizens advisory group.

Foundation Praised

“The foundation has showed a real willingness to deal with us, and I think limiting the library to four days a week is a valid possibility,” said Russ Baggerly, spokesman for the environmentalists.

The foundation had originally planned to build the library at Stanford University. But that plan was dropped in April, 1987, after some Stanford faculty members and nearby property owners objected.

On Thursday, C. Ronald Kimberling, the foundation’s executive director, said that foundation officials about a year ago chose the eastern Ventura County site from among 30 other state locations because of its rural setting and proximity to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The library will be off Madera Road in the Tierra Rejada greenbelt between Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

Higdon said the foundation has received private donations to build the project from more than 100,000 contributors during the past three years. But he declined to say how much money has been collected or to reveal the identity of the donors.

The project,-- including a 300-seat auditorium, a replica of the President’s Oval Office, a presidential museum and a room for Nancy Reagan memorabilia--is expected to draw more than 250,000 visitors a year. The mission-style building will be the largest of the eight presidential libraries already in existence.

The National Archives, which operates the other presidential libraries with taxpayers’ money and, in some cases, admission fees, will run the Reagan library on an annual budget of about $1.5 million, Kimberling said.

Other presidential libraries are: Herbert Hoover, West Branch, Iowa; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, N.Y.; Harry Truman, Independence, Mo.; Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abilene, Kan.; John F. Kennedy, Boston; Lyndon B. Johnson, Austin, Tex.; Gerald R. Ford, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, Mich., and Jimmy Carter, Atlanta.