In October 1994, the City of Thousand Oaks inaugurated the Civic Arts Plaza and City Hall. The arts plaza has opened its doors to plays, concerts and other festivities throughout the years, and on Sunday, Oct. 13 the community event “Timeless Thousand Oaks” welcomed the Thousand Oaks community to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the plaza. 

According to The Acorn, the building has now changed names from Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza to the Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Thousand Oaks.

The Sunday event allowed attendees to take a closer look at the community services in the area through various booths representing multiple organizations. 

Attendees were encouraged to interact with the booths through a “passport” allowing them to collect “traveling stamps” from each booth. Once completed, the participants could enter a raffle to win prizes. The event also included live music and vendors selling refreshments.

Community Development Director Mark Towne asked residents to participate in the community survey offered at his booth. The booth asked participants what makes Thousand Oaks great, and what could be done better. 

“The foundation for the City’s General Plan is input from residents from what their vision is for the future  of the community. By that I mean what is important for residents, what are the challenges they see, what are the facilities or programs and so forth they would like to see in the future,” Towne said.

The Ventura County Fire Department allowed attendees to participate in one-on-one tours of a fire engine. They also had an obstacle course for children simulating an emergency scenario where the children would put on protection equipment similar to that used by real firefighters.