Renovation of Autry National Center gets City Council approval

With a $6.6-million construction grant at stake, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday endorsed the Autry National Center of the American West’s plan to reconfigure galleries at its museum in Griffith Park, creating permanent displays of Native American artifacts.

The proposal, which would be routine for most other museums, became contentious last month because it dovetails with the larger, longstanding question of whether turning the Griffith Park site into a home for the Autry’s Native American collection spells the end of the Southwest Museum in Mount Washington.

The Autry acquired the Southwest Museum and its prized collection of nearly 300,000 Native American artifacts and artworks in 2002 in what was then seen as a benevolent takeover of the financially depleted Southwest, which otherwise might have had to disperse the collection to other cities. But some supporters of the Southwest, which has been closed to the public since 2009, came to view the merger as a ploy by the Autry to gain the Southwest’s collection, then abandon its historic 1914 museum building. The Autry has spent millions to partially renovate the Southwest, which it still uses for storage and conservation. But it contends it would be too expensive to operate museums at both sites.

To secure the construction grant from the state parks department, the Autry needed to provide an assurance that the city, its Griffith Park landlord, approved the renovations. The Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners accepted the renovations last month and waived the need for an extensive environmental impact review. But the City Council decided to review the decision, and on Tuesday, it backed the commissioners by votes of 10 to 3 (to approve the construction project) and 11 to 2 (on the environmental waiver).

However, the Autry renovations could still be stalled. Attorney Daniel Wright said Tuesday that Southwest Museum supporters plan to meet next week to discuss whether to sue over the environmental waiver. “We feel there are numerous strong grounds … to overturn the decision,” he said.

Additionally, Wright contends that the Recreation and Parks Commissioners violated state open meetings law last month by failing to give proper notice of the hearing that preceded their vote; he said he’s sent a letter to the commissioners arguing that the law requires them to rescind their decisions on the Autry and hold another hearing.

Also, three City Council members, Jose Huizar and Ed Reyes, who voted against OKing the Autry renovations, and Tom LaBonge, who was part of the majority that didn’t want to jeopardize the state grant money, filed motions Tuesday to further review the Autry’s overall plans and how they’ll affect the Southwest Museum. The Council, Huizar’s proposal said, should establish a working group of city officials, tasked with embarking with the Autry and other stakeholders on a “comprehensive review” of L.A.’s rights and responsibilities when it comes to the two museums, and developing “a long-range plan for both.”

The proposals will be discussed first by the Council’s Arts, Parks, Health & Aging committee, chaired by LaBonge.

mike.boehm@latimes.com