Camarillo donates library property for children’s museum
The former Camarillo Library at 3100 Ponderosa Drive is going to become the new site of kidSTREAM, an interactive children’s museum.
The Camarillo City Council approved donating the property on March 24. The city had been expecting to sell the site to the kidSTREAM nonprofit for about $900,000. KidSTREAM has been raising money to buy and develop a site, but the pandemic has severely impacted philanthropic giving.
“The City Council’s recognition of the value that kidSTREAM will bring to our City and our region is not only a vote of confidence in the foundational work that so many have poured into this project, but it is an affirmation of the direction we are going,” Kristie Akl, the founder and president of the board for kidSTREAM, said in a city news release. “KidSTREAM will be an economic driver for our region, and by securing the location we will be able to exponentially increase our reach and help bridge the learning gap that has become even wider during the pandemic.”
The library was built in 1974 and designed by Jefferson A. Elmendorf, an architect who designed many buildings in and around the Conejo Valley region. It was the city’s library until a new, bigger library building opened in 2007.
Elmendorf once had a studio on the campus of California Lutheran University and designed its Centrum building, as well as the school’s administration building.
The next steps in the process for kidSTREAM is for the site to undergo a detailed environmental impact study. KidSTREAM—the STREAM stands for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts and Math—is scheduled to open Jan. 6, 2023.
