PIRU : $380,000 Grant to Help Rebuild Business Area

Ventura County has received a $380,000 historic preservation grant from the federal government that will be used to rebuild the Piru business district damaged in the Northridge earthquake.

The money will go to repair several historic buildings on Center Street that received major structural damage, including a market, video store, barbershop and two vacant buildings. The money also will be used to repair one building that the county has taken over with the hopes of eventually leasing it to a bank, said Marty Robinson, a county administrator.

Piru, a community of 1,200, has been without a bank since the Jan. 17 earthquake closed its only financial institution. The owners of Citizens State Bank of Santa Paula have informed the county that they have no intention of reopening an office in Piru.

Initial estimates of repairs to Piru’s business district are about $450,000, including $47,500 for construction management, Robinson said. The remainder of the repair money will come from federal Community Development Block Grant funds, she said.