WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers ENJOYING PLEASANT CONVERSATION- From left, Holly Cole of Verizon; Karen Glancy; T.O. Mayor Tom Glancy; and Michael Ladd mingle in the new Verizon Founders Room. A renovation commemoration of the Founders Room took place last Saturday evening at the Civic Arts Plaza. Alliance for the Arts unveiled the remodeled room in the Fred Kavli Theatre area. It's for meetings and receptions. More than 100 attended the festivities and they were treated to hors d'oeuvres and music. Alliance for the Arts recently unveiled the newly renovated Verizon Founders Room inside the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

The alliance spearheaded the renovation of the room at the suggestion of Ron Plotkin, major alliance donor and Founders Circle chairman. Plotkin had donated a gift of $100,000 toward a remodel of the room.

"You cannot expect to attract arts supporters without a nice place to entertain them," said Plotkin.

Plotkin and his wife, Annette, envisioned the remodeling. Their efforts prompted Alliance and city officials to visit Founders Rooms at the L.A. Music Center, including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre and Disney Hall, for ideas.

Alliance donor Francisco Behr of Behr Browers Architects in Westlake Village worked in collaboration with Ron Plotkin, alliance officials and the city of Thousand Oaks on the redesign of the room and selected the paint, carpet, drapes, chandeliers and furniture.

The Alliance sponsored the costs of all aesthetic improvements and labor, while the city of Thousand Oaks paid for the functional improvements and labor. The functional improvements included installing uptodate audio-visual equipment, a flat screen TV and acoustical walls.

A three-dimensional art form of tubes (oboes) adorns the east wall. The oboes are different lengths and widths and represent allegorical musical instruments. The art form was a collaboration by architect and artist Myra Burg and supervised by Behr.

The Verizon Founders Room was originally named in recognition of $500,000 support from Verizon and its predecessor, GTE, between 1992 and 1999. During the past two years, Verizon has contributed an additional $100,000.

The Founders Room is used during the day to host city meetings and during the evenings and weekends for alliance and theater receptions.

The dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Jan. 17.