SIMI VALLEY : Museum Plan May Be Premature
A proposal to use redevelopment funds for a $2-million history museum in Simi Valley may have been premature since the city won’t receive enough money to finance the project for several years, a city official said Wednesday.
Until a proposed new regional mall is completed, the city won’t have money to finance construction of the museum at Robert P. Strathearn Historical Park, Mayor Greg Stratton said.
The museum would be a joint effort between the city and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, under a plan proposed by a park district panel and the Simi Valley Historical Society. The building would be used to display artifacts collected by the society.
The museum would be built at the five-acre park on Strathearn Place near Madera Road, already the site of some of the city’s oldest buildings, including a Spanish colonial adobe structure built nearly 200 years ago.
But it might be 1996 before the city sees any revenue from the mall, Stratton said.
Officials are considering other ways to finance the museum, including issuing bonds or delaying some other projects, such as traffic improvements.
The park district is scheduled to discuss the museum at its meeting tonight.
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