CALABASAS PLANS BLOWOUT FOR Y2K.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

It won't be on the scale of millennium bashes in Las Vegas or New York, but Calabasas plans to hold its own party to end all parties.

City staffers will ask the City Council on Wednesday for $55,200 to stage a family-oriented Calabasas 2000 Party on New Year's Eve.

``We're going to have a big blowout for the end of 1999, beginning of 2000,'' said Greg Johnson, city community services director. ``It's a celebration-of-the-arts type of thing, a nonalcoholic, cultural festival for one evening for the millennium.''

Johnson said the allocation would pay for parking, entertainment, security and ``just about anything you can imagine.''

A 10- to 12-member Millennium Party Committee has met twice, selecting The Commons shopping center on Calabasas Road as the party location, although the city has not yet received approval from the shopping center's owner, Caruso Affiliated Holdings. The committee is made up of one representative from each city commission.

Johnson said the committee favored The Commons for its plentiful parking, high visibility and vast area that would accommodate different entertainment.

``If you look at Calabasas there are not a lot of places with all those requirements,'' he said. He added if The Commons falls through, the next venue would be Old Town.

The committee ruled out a suggestion from some council members who suggested holding the party in smaller venues at the city's parks.

``The committee felt it would diminish the effect of one big party by being spread out so much,'' he said.

The committee has come up with suggestions for the party including hiring musicians, actors and performers such as mimes, clowns and puppeteers who would wander through the crowd.

The committee also is considering working with local high schools and colleges on arranging jazz groups and marching bands to perform and putting the word out for cultural performers and those interested in the arts to participate. If the council allocates the money Wednesday, the committee will meet again at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

The plan is to hold the party from 5 or 6 p.m. to midnight, Johnson said.

The committee also plans to ask food vendors at The Commons, such as Chopsticks and Johnny Rockets, to accommodate partygoers instead of soliciting outside vendors, he said.

Johnson anticipates up to 3,500 people would attend the city's party, based on attendance at other municipal events such as the Fourth of July celebration and the Pumpkin Festival.

The facts

Here is the proposed budget for the Calabasas 2000 Party:

Parking services: $12,000.

Fireworks: $7,500.

Private security: $6,000.

Supplies and decorations: $6,000.

Sound systems: $5,000.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department: $4,000.

Publicity/promotion: $3,000.

Entertainment: $2,000.

Portable toilets: $2,500.

Contingency fund: $7,200.

CAPTION(S):

Box: The facts (see text)