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California’s Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, center, tours a wildfire area with California Depart

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The UCLA Conference Center was evacuated Sunday night.

The UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead has been closed and evacuated due to wildfires in the area, and it is unknown when the center can reopen.

The facility sits on approximately 40 acres of land on the northern shore of Lake Arrowhead, and often hosts conferences for various organizations throughout the state. The center staff and its guests were forced to evacuate the area on Sunday night.

“The fire got within a couple of miles of the center (Wednesday) night,” said Jim Turner, the center’s director. “Right now the center is not in imminent danger, but the situation is very fluid. It could change any time.”

The facility is used by the UCLA Alumni Association in the summer for a family resort.

“We’re just watching the news and praying that the fire doesn’t get to the facility,” said Keith Brant, executive director of the Alumni Association. “The last I saw on the news, it was two miles away. It would be a shame to lose it.”

Brant said the financial loss would be substantial if the center burned down.

There are six to eight conferences that have been immediately affected by the closure this week, and the center is working with guests to either reschedule or to redirect their conferences to other locations, Turner said.

More information on when the center will be able to reopen and how many conferences will be affected is expected to be available today.

The facility’s staff has temporarily relocated to the UCLA campus to take calls from concerned guests, employees and student staff, Turner said.

“We have rerouted our phone number from Lake Arrowhead to UCLA to be in constant communication with guests and staff,” he said.

The facility in Lake Arrowhead serves as the UCLA Conference Center for nine months out of the year and is turned into Bruin Woods, a family resort for UCLA alumni, in the summer.

Fifty-four percent of conferences held at the center are put on by UC campuses, and 46 percent are held by outside guests such as community colleges and city and county organizations, Turner said.

The facility at Lake Arrowhead was originally built in the 1920s and was used as a hotel for guests who traveled to Arrowhead, said John Sandbrook, special assistant to the executive dean of the College of Letters & Science.

It was donated to the UC Board of Regents by a private developer in the 1950s after the University of Southern California turned down the opportunity to manage the facilities.

UC Riverside operated the facility until 1980. The UC Office of the Treasurer was going to sell the property in 1980, but former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young led the effort for UCLA to take responsibility for the center and redevelop it, Sandbrook said.

Sandbrook described the facility as a “precious jewel,” and Housing Director Michael Foraker, whose office oversees it, reflected the same view.

“The facility is a wonderful asset to the university, and we are very hopeful that our property will not be impacted by this fire,” Foraker said.

In addition, about 1,000 alumni families each summer spend one week each at Bruin Woods, Sandbrook said.

The resort offers activities such as barbeques and family sports. There are also campouts led by student-counselors, field trips, and cruises for kids. For adults the resort offers activities like lectures given by UCLA faculty.

One family member must be an Alumni Association member to use Bruin Woods.

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