Director’s Departure Elicits No Worry From Bowers Board

The departure of Bowers Museum Director Paul M. Piazza at the end of this month should have no effect on plans to expand the Santa Ana facility, board members say.

Piazza, 47, resigned this week, effective May 31, citing a “loss of momentum” in the expansion plan. Although the museum has been closed since January in preparation for the $9.2-million renovation, the basic plan for the expansion has changed twice, causing the latest architect to withdraw from the project.

“The museum won’t reopen until late ‘91,” Piazza said. “I’m not a developer. . . . I’m a person who deals with art.”

Harriet Harris, Bowers board president, said she does not see his departure as a major problem.

“Life is full of changes and obstacles,” she said, “and we’re a living, breathing entity.”

In large part because Piazza, who took the job in February, 1987, was so successful in assembling a staff at the Bowers, Harris said, “we are going to be well covered in this interim expansion phase.”

Board member John Rau said: “I don’t think (the resignation) is going to have any negative effect. . . . We have some very active board members. . . . I’m very sanguine about things.”

“There’s no urgency to go out and look for someone new,” said Judy Runels, another board member. “Things are moving forward with the city. . . . We’re moving right along.”

Santa Ana City Manager David N. Ream agreed.

“We don’t anticipate it will affect the board’s plans to move forward with the rehabilitation and expansion of the museum,” he said. “It’s been a very slow and thoughtful process. . . . Museums by their very nature take a very long time to change and evolve.”

The Santa Ana Community Redevelopment Agency, which will finance the construction, is expected to vote next month on whether to accept the board’s recommendation of a new architect, Bissell Architects of Newport Beach.