County Natural History Museum on Endangered List

Like the dinosaurs in its displays, the Orange County Natural History Museum is in danger of extinction less than five months after it opened.

If directors of the museum cannot raise $150,000, it will close within two weeks, Susan Moore-Laux, the museum’s assistant director, said Friday. She said the museum has launched a letter-writing campaign to Orange County businesses seeking donations.

“We’re in dire straits here. We haven’t been able to pay rent for a couple months and some creditors are going to sue pretty soon.”

Operators of the privately funded museum blame poor attendance on the recession and the Persian Gulf War. Moore-Laux said the museum drew as many as 1,500 people a day when it opened in December. Now, she said, daily attendance averages closer to 200.

“It’s bad timing with the recession and the war,” she said. “The big, well-known (tourism) entities are all having trouble. . . . We’re a brand-new museum.”

Before moving to its current 32,000-square-foot site, the museum operated for five years out of the rooms of a former Newport Beach elementary school.

The county had designated the Natural History Museum as the caretaker for many fossil and paleontological artifacts uncovered during construction in the area. Those pieces would be returned to the county for storage if the museum closes, Moore-Laux said.

Some of the other displays might be sold, she said.

This weekend, the museum is hoping to boost attendance with a display of science fair projects done by Orange County students.

Moore-Laux said museum directors will not raise admission prices to escape their financial bind because they do not believe the market will bear a higher charge.