Museum’s Downtown Site Shown : Art: Media preview of new contemporary art venue comes amid cutbacks and shortfalls at the institution.

With Jonathan Borofsky’s 18-foot mechanized “Hammering Man” sculpture relentlessly swinging his aluminum arm in the front courtyard, and trolleys running through the neighboring atrium, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, unveiled its much-awaited $1.2-million downtown facility to the media Tuesday.

Although the new annex will be a dramatic addition to the museum, the preview of the unfinished interiors came just a few days after museum staffers learned that the museum is expecting a $250,000 shortfall in its annual operating budget.

In addition, the museum’s graphic designer was laid off last week--the third position eliminated from the 20-member staff in the last year--and employees were told not to expect their annual raises in July.

The financial problems come at a time when the museum is struggling to raise $10.5 million for a capital improvement campaign, which includes funds for renovating its main La Jolla site, developing the downtown facility and establishing a $2-million endowment.

The museum has raised about $7 million of the needed $10.5 million, Director Hugh Davies said at Tuesday’s press conference, staged in the empty hall of the free-standing 10,000-square-foot building which will be the new downtown home for the museum.

The museum has signed a 99-year lease at $1 a year for the site, part of the Helmut Jahn-designed American Plaza complex. The deal helps the developers of the site, Shimizu Land Corp., meet the public art requirement for downtown projects mandated by the Centre City Development Corp., the city’s redevelopment agency.

Developing a downtown facility has been a long-term goal of the museum directors. They expect to use the space for a wide variety of exhibitions and outreach programs, including a “video gallery” featuring the work of artists, a book store and 6,000 square-feet of exhibition space. Part of the space will be used to display the museum’s permanent collection.

The museum is scheduled to open Nov. 14. It is situated across Kettner Boulevard from the Amtrak train station, and the San Diego trolley runs through the glass and tile complex.

“One of our main thrusts will be to use the vehicle of the trolley to bring school children to the space,” Davies said, noting that, as the freeway “gets progressively

clogged, being across from the train will serve us well.”

Borofsky’s 18-foot high “Hammering Man,” on loan from a museum trustee, will be in place for a year.

“This museum’s search and the ‘Hammering Man’ have much in common,” said Robert L. Shapiro, a member of the museum’s board of trustees, referring to the “perseverance” and “single-mindedness” of the museum’s six-year effort to find a suitable downtown adjunct to its La Jolla space.

The museum also used the occasion to introduce its new logo, a simple offset design with just the initials MOCA, which was fashioned by Pentagram, a prestigious international design firm. Officials also announced the start of public fund-raising efforts for the capital improvements campaign.

Behind the scenes, though, the museum’s directors are working to raise funds to meet the projected operating budget for the fiscal year, which ends in June. A shortfall of $250,000 is a worst-case scenario, according to museum Associate Director Charles Castle.

Like most nonprofit organizations, in the past year the museum has suffered a sharp reduction in grants and corporate and individual contributions, although membership is up almost 20% from the same time last year, Castle said.

Last year, the museum also expected a shortfall but ended up with a surplus, according to Castle.

“Maybe opening the downtown space is the impetus we need” to help fund-raising, Castle said.

Castle acknowledged that the capital improvement campaign might have detracted from fund-raising efforts for the regular museum budget.

“It’s relatively easier to raise money for an identifiable project than to pay the water bill,” Castle said.

In the future, the museum will be able to use interest from the endowment to aid the operating budget, he said, noting that the downtown space will help raise the museum’s profile in the community.

The museum has changed its name twice in the last year, in part to give it more of a citywide identity. Formerly known as the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, it changed to the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, only to change it to Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, after confusion developed between its name and the San Diego Museum of Art.