2 Cities Left in Bidding War to Lure Museum : Attractions: Thousand Oaks asks the Southwest facility for more time. Ventura touts two ocean-view sites.

Daunted by a $35-million price tag, most Ventura County cities have dropped out of a once-heated bidding war for the Southwest Museum, letting Tuesday’s deadline slip by without submitting formal proposals.

Only Ventura and Thousand Oaks remain in the running for the 79-year-old museum, which owns a renowned collection of Native American artifacts, crafts and historical photographs.

Of the two, Ventura seems to hold the edge. The City Council voted late Monday night to tout two ocean-view properties as potential sites for the museum that seeks to leave Los Angeles. Thousand Oaks officials did not draft a specific proposal, but simply sent a letter asking for more time.

Museum Director Thomas H. Wilson welcomed Ventura’s bid and said he would consider granting Thousand Oaks an extension.

“We didn’t really make a short list, but Ventura would be among the top half-dozen . . . given what I know about the land they’re suggesting, the freeway access, the population and donor base, and other nearby visitor attractions,” Wilson said.

Squeezed into a Highland Park building with room for less than 5% of its collection, the Southwest Museum has been seeking a new home for its Native American baskets, ceramics, textiles, leather work and its extensive research library. But, strapped for funds as well as space, museum officials said they will need at least $35 million to construct a new facility.

That figure proved out of reach for Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, Fillmore and Oxnard. Politicians in those cities had expressed interest in wooing the museum, but reluctantly let Tuesday’s deadline pass.

“We’re a small city and though we have almost everything the museum wanted, it just wasn’t in the right proportions,” said Steve Hayes, Moorpark’s economic development manager.

The most ambitious private bid for the museum--a proposed theme park on an orange grove in Fillmore--also faltered on the $35-million requirement.

“I didn’t quite have that much in my pocket, so I decided to pass,” said Fillmore rancher James Sandoval, who had envisioned a tourist mecca with the museum, a re-created Civil War battleground and live demonstrations of Chumash ceremonial rites.

A private property owner in Camarillo has reportedly expressed interest, but no details were available. Wilson would say only that he had received about four proposals, and expects several more to trickle in this week.

One of the late arrivals will be Ventura’s five-page pitch.

Short on financial details, the proposal instead focuses on civic boosterism. It emphasizes the city’s easy freeway access and notes that the Ventura-Oxnard region was recently ranked the 11th most affluent market in the United States.

The city has recommended two possible sites overlooking the Pacific for the Southwest Museum.

One 20-acre parcel, owned by the Ventura Port District, lies near the Channel Islands National Park Visitor’s Center. The other, a vacant 12.5-acre plot near the Pierpont Inn, is on the market for $5 million, city staff said. Ventura officials have asked the owners to consider donating the parcel, but have received no response.

So far, the Ventura City Council has made only one financial commitment to the museum: a promise to waive more than $525,000 in building fees should the museum choose to locate in Ventura. Before making any other offers, Ventura leaders said they wanted details about the museum’s assets and fund-raising plans.

“They’ve said they have nothing to offer but their collection,” Ventura Mayor Gregory Carson said. “We want some more information from them and then we’ll put some dollars on the table.”

The city would consider floating bonds or tapping nonprofit organizations for donations, Carson said. “There are some creative things we can do,” he said.

On the other end of the county, Thousand Oaks officials said they were reluctant to spend time drafting a detailed proposal until they could better gauge the Southwest Museum’s interest.

With fund raising for a new auditorium in the Civic Arts Plaza heating up, they were skeptical that the arts community could come forth with enough money to woo the museum to town.

“I just don’t get a good feeling that we’re even in the race,” Councilman Frank Schillo said. Seeking alternatives, Schillo has arranged a meeting next week with two Santa Barbara-based entrepreneurs interested in building a Native People’s Cultural Center, focused on indigenous groups throughout the world.

Still, the Southwest’s director called Thousand Oaks “a good prospect” and said he would be sympathetic to the city’s request for more time. “I’m certain that I’ll continue talking to Thousand Oaks,” Wilson said.

The Southwest’s board of directors will review the proposals briefly during a meeting today, but does not expect to make any decisions immediately, Wilson said.

Times staff writer Peggy Y. Lee contributed to this story.