Museum Merger Foes Request a Guarantee

A delay hasn’t satisfied opponents of a proposed merger of the Laguna and Newport Harbor art museums, who want assurance that the Laguna museum’s building here won’t close.

Tuesday night, Laguna museum members--who must ratify a trustees’ vote to merge--were given an extra three weeks to return their ballots. The new deadline is April 20.

But members of Save Laguna Art Museum, who had asked for the extension, said Wednesday they also want a written guarantee that the museum building will stay open, and veto power over sales of work from the collections of the merged Orange County Museum of Art.

“We’re trying to negotiate in good faith,” said G. Ray Kerciu, the group’s president. “But if that doesn’t work out and the community doesn’t go for it, we’ll have to fight as hard as we can.”

The group’s leaders and Laguna museum trustees have been discussing ways of keeping the museum open. Trustee David Emmes II said he expects an agreement by the end of the week. But Kerciu said he wants the community to approve the plan at a City Council meeting next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the only trustee from either museum to vote against the merger, Lola Romero Seymour of Newport Harbor, has resigned.

“I felt if I couldn’t be a team player, I shouldn’t be on the team,” said Seymour, who said she voted no because she had too many “unresolved questions” about the merger and possible closure of the Laguna museum.