BURBANK : Panel Raises $70,000 for New Museum

Burbank officials tallying up fund-raising efforts by the city for the Burbank branch of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum said Friday that $70,000 had been collected by a special committee.

That fell short of a goal of $300,000 for the city to raise as its contribution to the museum that opened May 1. The city’s Redevelopment Agency is making up the $230,000 difference, Deputy City Manager Richard Inga said.

“When the committee started out their work, everyone realized that in the current economy, it was going to be a struggle,” Inga said. The committee was made up of a dozen Burbank citizens who were enlisted to lobby for donations from individuals and companies.

The major corporate sponsor was Disney Studios, which donated $25,000. Most companies that declined to help the museum blamed the economy.

The tally for the fund-raising campaign is just now being completed, Inga said. The $70,000 figure is an estimate and donations from some private sources continue to trickle in, he said.

The campaign by the city ended when the Burbank branch of the museum opened so that it would not conflict with the museum’s usual fund-raising efforts, Inga said.

The museum was created out of a partnership arrangement in which the Alexander Haagen Co., developers of the Media City Center Mall, built the museum for the county for $600,000, and the city of Burbank contributed $300,000 to complete the museum’s interior furnishings.

The museum is located at 3rd Street and Cypress Avenue next to the Media City Center Mall.