Council Approves Museum Plan for Fence, Renovation

The San Diego City Council has approved plans for a $7.3-million renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego after two citizens decided at the last minute to withdraw a challenge to the project.

Melinda Merryweather and Dave Odell objected to the La Jolla museum’s plan to fence in a half-acre garden, which the museum wants to use to house sculptures and other outdoor pieces. A compromise approved by the city Planning Commission called for the fence to be set back 15 feet from the street and open to the public during business hours.

Merryweather and Odell had filed an appeal to the Planning Commission decision with the council. But, a few minutes before Tuesday’s council meeting, with about 50 museum supporters in attendance, the pair announced that they would not pursue the issue.

“I looked around the room and thought, ‘We’re going to get eaten alive here,’ ” Merryweather said Wednesday.

After accepting the appeal’s withdrawal, the council voted, 5 to 0, to approve the plans, which call for a complete restoration of the building’s facade, expansion of the museum’s exhibition space and bookstore, and construction of an outdoor courtyard.

The fence issue could still be brought up before the California Coastal Commission, but Merryweather said she’s not sure if she will continue the fight.

“At least we preserved 15 feet for the public in front of the fence,” she said, noting that “some day the prescriptive rights issue will have to be settled.” Merryweather and others believe the garden, which was once cultivated by La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, should be designated as a historical site.

If there are no immediate challenges, the museum will authorize architect Robert Venturi to develop specific building plans, museum associate director Charles Castle said. Those plans, which will take six months to develop, are necessary before the museum can get its final building permits, he said.

When all the plans are approved, it will be up to the museum’s board of trustees to decide if the museum is financially ready to move ahead, Castle said.

The museum is now about $2 million short of its fund-raising goals for the La Jolla project. As part of its 50th anniversary campaign, the museum is also raising funds for its downtown site and an endowment fund.

Although it is possible that the museum could break ground by the end of the year, Castle said it is much more likely that construction won’t begin until 1993.