CITY'S 20 YEARS MARKED BY BOOK.

Byline: PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- An abandoned cosmetics warehouse tucked in the desolate, scrubby hills of Canyon Country is the ``before'' picture.

The ``after'' shot is of Santa Clarita's gem, the city Sports Complex and Aquatic Center, now at the center of an emerging business park.

This 35-acre-and-growing park is one of a dozen or so recreation areas that will be featured in ``The City of Santa Clarita: Celebrating 20 Years of Success,'' a full-color, hardcover coffee-table book that will be published next year to celebrate two decades of cityhood.

The city has set a tentative budget of up to $80,000 to observe the anniversary -- and to market itself across the nation.

The book, which will run up to 80 pages, will be made available to the Library of Congress and top dogs at Fortune 500 companies as well as major colleges, universities and overseas trade consultants.

``It's a marketing tool, and a celebration of cityhood,'' city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said. ``It offers businesses a chance to showcase themselves in the book. If someone asks about Santa Clarita, here it is. It's our past, our present and our future.''

Now just a concept, the book already has enlightened one person, publisher Geoffrey Bolt of Cerritos-based Pioneer Publications, who came to town to become familiar with the city.

``It's much bigger and more modern than I visualized it,'' Bolt said of the one-time cow town.

When Santa Clarita incorporated in 1987, it combined the communities of Newhall, Saugus, Canyon Country and Valencia. It spread across 39 square miles and was home to about 130,000. Now with 26 annexations completed, thousands of new homes and a whole lot of babies the population will hit 200,000 by the 20th anniversary. The city now covers about 53 square miles.

It's what came with that growth that the city is particularly proud of. Ortiz can rattle off in a single breath what happens when locally generated revenue stays home.

``We've built over a dozen parks, 30 miles of off-street bike paths, nearing completion of the Cross-Valley Connector, three Metrolink stations, widened Soledad Canyon Road from four to six lanes -- remember that? -- widened San Fernando Road, created a transit system...

``The city really has made a huge impact, a lot of things people who haven't lived here for 20 years don't realize.''

The book will include the trails established over two decades, shopping centers, new roads and other accomplishments, Ortiz said.

Its size will depend upon how may sponsors buy full-page ads, Bolt said.

An e-mail sent out last week to Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce members offered a 25 percent discount on sponsorships.

A single-page sponsorship will cost $3,500, or $2,625 with the Chamber of Commerce discount. Buyers will receive 10 copies of the book.

Those who buy five pages will pay $2,100 per page -- $1,575 with the discount -- and receive 75 copies of the book.

The price for a single copy is $29.95.

For information, call Ortiz [phone] or contact Bolt at [phone] or pioneerpublications(at)earthlink.net.

pat.aidem(at)dailynews.com

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