OJAI, Oct. 14 – A new, broad-based citizens committee today launched a Valley-wide campaign to raise $1 million as the community’s contribution toward rebuilding historic landmark Libbey Bowl. The “Save Libbey Bowl” committee, chaired by businessman Alan Rains, includes representatives from Ojai’s government, business, education and nonprofit sectors.
Two-thirds of the estimated $3-million cost of demolishing and rebuilding the Bowl has already been pledged by the City of Ojai and the Ojai Music Festival. The campaign to raise the remaining $1 million begins today and is expected to be complete by April 1, 2010. The Libbey Bowl reconstruction is planned for completion by June 2011.
“We are extremely gratified by the early response to our campaign,” said Rains, whose Rains Department Store has been a mainstay of the town’s commercial center for more than 75 years. “The community-based support is an indicator of how important residents of the Ojai Valley view this landmark.” The Ojai Service Foundation, a nonprofit civic organization, will serve as the clearing house for contributions, Rains said.
Libbey Bowl has served as the cultural fulcrum of Ojai since its construction in 1957, with an estimated 1,000 performances of plays, concerts and other civic events, including the Ojai Music Festival, staged there in the intervening 52 years.
In recent years, however, the Bowl has begun to show its age, with steady deterioration of the largely wooden structure to the point where safety issues became significant. Spot repairs have kept the bowl usable, but termites, wood rot and other decay have made its demolition and reconstruction a necessity..
“The new Libbey Bowl will retain most of the ambience and charm of the old one, but with greater function and convenience for audience and performers alike,” Rains said. Ojai architect David Bury has designed the new bowl and its adjuncts, including dressing rooms, audience seating and landscaping.
The Save Libbey Bowl committee includes more than 25 community leaders who have played major roles in other Ojai civic projects. Committee members include Alan Rains, Bill Burr, Jr, Pete Christl, Joyce West, Bill Burr Sr, Kate Barnhart, Barbara Bowman, Chris Drucker, Joan Kemper, Bill Shanbrom, Richard Weirick, Cathryn Krause, Mike Morris, Lois Rice, Esther Wachtell, Larry Wilde, Don Cluff, Husam Hishmeh, Steve McGillivray, Ron Polito, John Russell, Roger Wachtell and others.
“We urge everyone in Ojai to join this effort for a new and improved Libbey Bowl, which will serve our community in so many ways for generations to come,” said Rains. “It is a resource we cannot afford to lose.”
