CULTURE IN THE VALLEY; REVAMPED CSUN EMERGING AS GATHERING PLACE.

Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer

Teens in jeans, fathers in suits and mothers in black velvet packed a dark theater on a recent Saturday.

The sold-out crowd of more than 500 people traveled from across Los Angeles for a taste of traditional Beijing opera.

This star-studded performance was not held in some grand hall downtown.

It was staged in the new Performing Arts Center on the campus of a school vying to become the cultural centerpiece of the Valley: California State University, Northridge.

After spending the past four years recovering from the Northridge Earthquake, the school is dusting itself off. With $321 million in federal funds, it is in the final stages of remaking itself from a place people jokingly call ``Cal State Nowhere'' into what leaders envision will become the Valley's center of beauty, culture, arts, community spirit - even sports.

``The exciting part of the master plan is the potential of creating a sense of place, not only for the university but the Valley as well,'' said CSUN President Blenda Wilson, now in her sixth year at the school's helm.

Armed with a top-to-bottom master plan for retooling the 353-acre campus that first opened in 1958 - and with elite architects such as Richard Stern on board - CSUN leaders vow to revamp the campus by the turn of the century.

Wilson's plans already are gaining support.

``I think there is definitely a need. I don't think there's any question about it,'' said Sandra Rivkin, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Rivkin acknowledged that the Valley isn't often considered a cultural hotspot.

``They've suffered from that image of, who's going to go to the Valley? But if you have a good series or performances, once people start hearing about them by word of mouth, they will go.''

Recovery and beyond

Already, changes at CSUN are helping to wash away its historical image as a sleepy, dull, commuter school with a nondescript campus, a place with crowded parking lots, too few signs and hard-to-navigate streets.

When the makeover is finished by December 1999, the campus should stand out as a landmark, Wilson said. She compared her vision to a more familiar sight.

``It's like if you put up a picture of the skyline of downtown L.A., people would recognize it,'' she said. CSUN will be ``a visual image of the Valley.''

Ironically, one of the greatest tragedies in CSUN's history offered the university this chance to reinvent itself.

When the 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck the morning of Jan. 17, 1994, the campus was devastated. The quake demolished a nearby apartment complex, where 16 residents were killed, including some CSUN students.

A parking structure collapsed, and buildings were trashed, leaving classrooms and offices in rubble. Attendance plummeted by 11 percent to 24,310 in 1994.

Now, with $321 million in federal money, Wilson's vision and the school's comeback-kid attitude, signs of the earthquake are fading.

This fall, four major buildings reopened and two temporary trailer classroom ``villages'' were removed. Officials said the campus is two-thirds of the way to total recovery. And students are coming back. Attendance grew to 27,652 this year.

Federal and state funds have been used to fix 76 of 107 damaged buildings and raze buildings deemed irreparable. Additional funds will cover lighting, sidewalks and other smaller projects.

CSUN's master plan

With the past practically behind them, CSUN officials are looking forward. The master plan calls for at least five new buildings on its 288-acre main campus, improved access to them and beautification projects throughout.

``CSUN is going to have a campus that will be the envy of the country,'' spokesman Bruce Erickson said. ``No other campus in the United States has had the chance to redesign itself like we have. It was born of necessity.''

The plan includes the removal of 200 remaining temporary trailers and domes during the next three years.

On the 65-acre North Campus, officials propose adding a 28- to 33-acre biotech firm park, a 12-acre post-production park to be leased to entertainment industry companies, and a new sports stadium seating 15,000 spectators.

By inviting those industries on campus, CSUN stands to gain academic benefits, including resources to support its new Entertainment Industry Institute.

In the past few weeks, CSUN officials have taken the plan to university stakeholders and the public, including homeowners associations and chambers of commerce, for approval.

The new CSUN

Plan presenters asked people to close their eyes and peek into the future.

Imagine the university with two welcoming, main gates on Nordhoff Avenue that lead visitors through a two-way ``loop'' around a lush campus, they said.

The loop, which travels up Lindley Avenue, across Plummer Street and down Etiwanda Avenue, will be lined with shady trees in varieties of ash, orange, camphor or palm.

Once they park their cars, guests can stroll through walkways and promenades lined with more trees and flowers.

Since cars and service vehicles are prohibited on these pathways, pedestrians can stroll freely from one building to the next.

The buildings will be distinct in design, including a new arts building designed by Stern, who created the ``Fantasia'' hat-shaped Disney animation studio in Burbank.

Imagine students studying or catching up with professors in one of several ``mini parks,'' or others soaking in the sun in the campus' heart, Sierra Quad and Oviatt Lawn.

Much of the look and feel of the campus is being masterminded by Pamela Burton, a Santa Monica-based landscape architect hired by CSUN to boost beauty and the traffic circulation on campus.

Burton said feedback from members of a master plan task force proved helpful.

``The main gripe about the campus was that it doesn't work. They called it `Cal State Nowhere,' '' Burton said, laughing. ``This will really enhance the campus and give people a clear sense of where they're going.''

And college officials are hoping a more beautiful campus means a more cohesive community.

``It builds an allegiance between students and their campus, so students will say `I used to love walking to campus and spending time with friends,' '' said Frank Wein, CSUN's North Campus development consultant.

Improving community ties

But simply looking better will not be enough, many observers said.

If the university truly wants to hold the title of Valley's heart and soul, it still has much work ahead in improving ties with the rest of its community, according to students and Valley activists.

Over the years, the university has been blamed for turning a deaf ear on community input.

Two recent examples: the school's push to put a retail development on its North Campus and Wilson's stunning announcement this summer that she was canceling four sports programs.

But after public outcry, Wilson reversed course on both topics this year.

Associated Students Vice President Jon Hatemi, one of the more vocal student leaders on campus, said CSUN administrators need to reach out more.

``You can change the outside of anything, but it's the inside that counts,'' Hatemi said. ``One thing you need to do is you need to connect with the community and students. You need to make bonds.''

However, H. Eric Schockman, associate dean of student affairs at the University of Southern California, who has lived in Sherman Oaks for 10 years, said CSUN already is doing an exceptional job in community outreach.

CSUN's problem lies in self-promotion and getting the word out, Schockman said.

``I think CSUN is well poised to lead the Valley in a lot of dimensions, including the pursuit for economic development,'' said Schockman, who teaches political science at USC. ``I know it may sound crass, but I think it's a marketing job of telling people of what's been done and how much CSUN has done in the San Fernando Valley and how that relationship is continuing.''

Wilson admitted that past experience has taught her much about the importance of approaching and listening to all constituents in and around the campus.

Earlier this month, Wilson's staff held a public meeting to gather input on the master plan's environmental impact report. At the meeting, townhouse residents complained that the athletics arena proposed for North Campus would create too much noise and traffic along Lindley Avenue.

The master plan now comes with two renderings for North Campus, one with a stadium and one without.

``We are committing ourselves to learning to work collaboratively with all parties and rely on a sense of mutual interest,'' Wilson said.

With the help of the public, CSUN can finish its master plan and become the center of arts, culture, beauty, community services and sports for Valley residents.

``So the Valley feels,'' Wilson said, ``that it has its own resources and doesn't have to go over the hill or to Pasadena for those things.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

PHOTO (1 -- color) Violinists from the Camerata Strings of Los Angeles and surrounding areas perform at CSUN during the Concert for Children program.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News

(2 -- color) Several plants and fountains add character to the reflecting pool at CSUN.

David Crane/Daily News

Map: Build it and they will come?

Traci Wooden/Daily News