LAGUNA MUSEUM EXTENDS USE OF MALL GALLERY

The Laguna Beach Museum of Art will continue to operate its satellite gallery at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa through December, 1986, museum and mall spokesmen have announced.

Museum officials said the museum board has agreed to formally accept the offer of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the mall owner, to extend the rent-free lease for that period.

Reconstruction of the museum’s main facility in Laguna Beach began two weeks ago. Closed since April 26, the facility is set to reopen in May.

Until the board decision this week, officials had said the museum was concerned about continuing the mall operation beyond 1985 because of the stretching of fiscal and staff resources between the museum’s main facility and the mall site.

The museum board has approved a 1985-86 operating budget of $500,000, the museum’s largest to date. Running the mall site, which opened last October, has cost about $80,000, officials said.