DEVELOPER REVEALS PLANS FOR DISNEY PLAY CENTER IN T.O.

Byline: R.A. Hutchinson Daily News Staff Writer

The marketing imagineers at Walt Disney Corp. have conjured up a new retail concept for the 10 and younger set with the Club Disney prototype under way at The Promenade at Westlake.

Developer Rick Caruso said Disney's 23,000-square-foot location in his shopping center will have a 10,000-square-foot activities center for children and toddlers, a 5,000-square-foot retail store and a Mickey's Cafe.

``It was a hard, long fight. They looked at several cities before deciding on Thousand Oaks. We were thrilled to get them. We revised our site plan to accommodate them,'' Caruso said.

Caruso said Disney plans to use the store at Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards as a prototype for developing Club Disneys throughout the country. The center is similar to play centers found at Discovery Zone or Chuck E Cheese's pizza restaurants.

Disney officials declined to comment, saying the company has made no formal announcement about the new project.

Although details are under wraps at Burbank-based Disney, Caruso said the general concept is a center that will have play structures for children to climb, slide down and crawl through. There also will be arts and crafts, such as finger painting or pottery making, computer classes, and a play area for toddlers.

The entire play center will carry the Disney theme and feature numerous stars from its expanding cast of characters. Caruso said the center will be updated periodically to tie in with current movie releases from the company.

``For example, kids will be able to climb up the Wizard's tower and slide down the Hunchback's cathedral,'' Caruso said. ``Those themes will change to link with their current releases.''

To meet the height requirements for the Disney project, Caruso said his Brentwood-based Caruso Affiliated Holdings revamped the general plan for the site to increase the roof line to 35 feet from the original 25 feet.

``The reason for the higher roof line is these (play apparatus) - they're all attached to the ceiling,'' Caruso explained.

Caruso said he and rival Janss Corp. both submitted plans to Disney several months ago to try to win the project. Caruso believes Disney chose The Promenade for its first Club Disney because of its new construction and its location in eastern Ventura County, which he says has excellent demographics to support an upscale retail center.

``The best of it is it fits in with wonderfully with the rest of the center; it's very family-oriented. It makes the center a more regional draw,'' Caruso said.

The Promenade at Westlake, originally called the Thousand Oaks Towne Center, is a 209,000-square-foot retail project whose tenant list includes: Chili's Bar & Grill, Staples, Bristol Farms, Bristol Kitchens, Barnes & Noble book store and an eight-screen Mann Theatres. The center is scheduled to open by Nov. 1.