Autry Museum Wins Key Council Vote

Construction of a Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Griffith Park appeared certain Wednesday as the Los Angeles City Council enthusiastically approved the project.

By an 11-0 vote, the council tentatively approved a 50-year lease--at $1 a year--of land for construction of the 139,436-square-foot, $25-million museum. The 2 1/2-acre site is between the Golden State Freeway and the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot.

Final Approval Delayed

Because 12 votes are required for approval of a measure without a second vote, final approval was delayed one week. Only eight votes will be required for approval next week when the bill comes up on second reading.

When it is approved by the council, the lease will go to Mayor Tom Bradley, who supports the project, according to a spokesman.

The Autry Foundation plans to house Western artifacts in the museum, including a 10,000-piece collection acquired last year from the Frontier Museum in Temecula in Riverside County. The foundation was created by Autry’s first wife, Ina Mae, who died in 1980, and is now run by the former cowboy star’s second wife, Jackie.

Exhibits will include artworks by such artists as Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, firearms, saddles and memorabilia from some of the best-known movie cowboys, including John Wayne and, of course, Autry. A 250-seat theater is planned for the showing of Western movies.

The project had been opposed by the city Recreation and Parks Department, the League of Women Voters and a number of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club. They all objected to the loss of scarce flat parkland.

The foundation had previously tried to build the museum on parkland in Burbank but abandoned that proposal in the face of strong opposition from environmentalists and neighbors.

But no one at Wednesday’s council meeting spoke in opposition to the project.

Council Enthusiasm

Several council members spoke enthusiastically about the museum.

“We’re going to have in this city the finest museum of its type,” said Councilman Joel Wachs. “I dare to say that, when the museum is completed, it will probably be one of the leading attractions in the city.”

Wachs, responding to environmentalists’ objections about the loss of parkland, called the property where the museum will be built an “ugly, unusable piece of junk” in its present state.

He said there is precedent for museums in parks, pointing to the museums in New York’s Central Park, San Diego’s Balboa Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Councilman John Ferraro, who picked up Griffith Park in his district after the council’s recent reapportionment, said the museum would be “part of the total recreational experience” for park users.

Ground breaking for the museum is scheduled for Nov. 12. The two-story, Spanish-style building, which will have a bell tower, will open in June, 1988, said Joanne Hale, the museum’s executive director.