Fullerton : City Ponders Improving Old Museum Building

Faced with a high debt and low-profile exhibits, the City Council will consider whether to spend $900,000 on improvements to the Museum of North Orange County in an effort to attract a higher level of art and more widespread public support.

The museum, which is housed in the old main library, has not been able to attract many traveling art exhibits because it has substandard electrical wiring and plumbing and no climate control, said Terry Galvin, redevelopment director.

Insurance coverage is unavailable without improvements, making the museum ineligible for most high-caliber traveling exhibits, he said.

Under the proposal being worked out between the city Redevelopment Agency, which would finance the overhaul, and the Community Services Department, which runs the museum, it would be completely refurbished and two of its rooms would be leased to a catering service.

Jay’s Caterers has expressed an interest in leasing the space, which the company would rent out for private parties and museum functions. Lease money would reduce the city’s subsidy of about $106,000 per year, which now pays for maintenance and two full-time employees, Galvin said.

“We have to find a new way of generating some income, and in order for the museum to make it to the next level, it has to have a better building,” Galvin said.

The city leases the building at Pomona and Wilshire avenues from the Community College District of North Orange County for $1 per year.

Plans calls for a new glass-enclosed addition off the Pomona Avenue entrance to become the main foyer and a system to regulate temperature and humidity and new windows that screen ultraviolet light. New workshop areas are also planned as well as a multimedia room and a hands-on educational exhibit.

The council will consider the plan at its March 19 meeting.