OJAI : Ex-Cabinet Member to Dedicate Gym

Former Secretary of the Interior William P. Clark Jr. will return to his Ojai high school Thursday to dedicate a new gymnasium to be named in his honor.

The 1949 graduate of Villanova Preparatory School is one of its most distinguished alumni and strongest supporters, school President Father John P. Pejza said.

The Catholic school has 240 day and boarding students from around the world.

At a groundbreaking ceremony for the gym last year that drew 800 students and guests, Clark credited the discipline he learned at Villanova for helping guide his career. He became a Ventura County Superior Court judge in 1969, was appointed to the California Supreme Court in 1974 and later became national security adviser to President Reagan.

Clark, a Paso Robles resident, is also a member of one of Ventura County’s pioneer families--along with the Borchards, McGraths and Lagomarsinos--who helped found the Augustinian school in 1924.

The new William P. Clark Gymnasium replaces the oldest active gym in Ventura County.

The old gym, built in 1929, will remain in use on the school’s 127-acre campus.

Pejza said the school raised $1.6 million to build the mission-style, 12,500-square-foot gym during a 10-year campaign for private donations and foundation grants.

Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and vicar for the Santa Barbara region, will bless the new gym Thursday and be principal celebrant of an outdoor Mass.

The 10 a.m. ceremonies will include a tour of the facilities followed by a buffet luncheon for students and invited guests.