Countrywide Donates $100,000 for Center

Before a backdrop of bulldozers wrestling mountains of dirt into submission, city officials from Calabasas and Agoura Hills gathered Friday at the sunbaked site of their new community center to accept a $100,000 donation from Countrywide Home Loans.

“We’re putting the stake in the ground,” said Andy Bielanski, managing director of marketing for the Calabasas-based mortgage lending institution. He called on other businesses to contribute money to the community center as well.

The $4.6-million center is being erected next to the Malibu-Lost Hills sheriff station on Malibu Hills Road, on the border of Agoura Hills and Calabasas. Construction began in July, and city officials expect the center to be completed in about a year.

Additional money for construction and equipment may be on the way. California Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Sheila Kuehl, who represents the area and attended the event wearing a denim Agoura Hills cap, said her $1-million request for the community center had been incorporated into the state budget Thursday night. The Assembly and Senate are expected to vote on the overdue budget next week.

“This is the pork,” Kuehl told the enthusiastic crowd of council members and other officials. “In somebody’s district, some kids are going to get to use a wonderful facility, some seniors are going to get to use a wonderful facility.”

Kuehl said the money for the community center was still subject to Gov. Pete Wilson’s approval. The governor has the power to “blue-pencil” any expenditures he dislikes.

“At this moment in time,” she said, “I think we have a really good chance to get it.”