L.A. Museums Are Exhibiting Y2K Readiness

The Getty Center has prepared two press releases for the next millennium. Both are dated for distribution on Jan. 1, when the center will be closed for the holiday. But one release announces that the popular hilltop complex will be open on Jan. 2; the other says that it will be closed that Sunday.

The Getty hasn’t made parking reservations for Jan. 2, so if it’s open that day--as expected--visitors will be able to drive in and park without prior planning. If the center is closed, those who arrive by bus or taxi will be disappointed, but at least the guards won’t have to turn away anyone with a parking reservation.

Why the alternate plans?

Y2K, of course, and officials at local museums of art and culture aren’t taking it lightly.

They don’t expect problems with the arrival of the year 2000. Most local museums--including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the Southwest Museum, the Skirball Cultural Center, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens--will be closed on Jan. 1. But only to observe the holiday, as usual, not for fear of Y2K, officials say. The UCLA/Hammer Museum is usually open on Jan. 1, but it will be closed to give the staff a day off.

Two museums that are traditionally open on New Year’s Day, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and UCLA’s Fowler Museum of Cultural History, will do business as usual on Jan. 1, however. “That’s a very good day for us,” Fowler director Doran Ross said. “Not everyone wants to stay home and watch television.”

But even as officials predict that museum life will go on smoothly when 1999 turns into 2000, they also say their confidence is based on extensive efforts to avoid major breakdowns and minor glitches.

The Getty Center probably faced the biggest challenge because it’s a large, multifaceted, “technologically aggressive organization,” as Marilyn Gillette, director of information technologies, put it. The complex was largely constructed during the 1990s, when technology providers were aware of pending Y2K issues, so most of the computer-driven equipment acquired during that period was already Y2K compliant, she said.

But nothing could be taken for granted. “Beginning in late 1997 we started a very systematic evaluation of all the technology components, every place where a computer chip might be installed,” Gillette said. “We have assessed more than 250 components--applications, desktop computers, our servers, network switches and everything that has an embedded chip, like elevators, the tram, building systems and those fabulous louvers that control the lighting in the museum.”

Computer programs for financial and human resources needed to be upgraded, she said. Additionally, desktop computers, Windows operating systems and most computer servers had to be patched or fixed by the vendors. “We also took the opportunity to replace a couple of computer systems with packages by new vendors, including the museum’s collection information system, which tracks all the objects in the collection, and our visitor reservation application,” she said.

Downtown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the specter of Y2K problems has spurred needed changes that had been delayed because of their high cost, assistant director Kathleen Bartels said. “But it’s been good because we have replaced our entire network; our operating system is ready to go. We also replaced 80% of our PCs, and we changed our membership and development software early last year.” A consulting firm, Vortex Productivity, recently tested all these systems, “and everything came out really well,” she said.

Among other areas of concern, the museum’s security and fire systems were upgraded two years ago with Y2K in mind, so they are “up to speed,” Bartels said. Dealing with individual vendors has been tedious, and upgrading the museum’s payroll system has been particularly difficult because it involves several processes, she said. “But I think we have got that wrinkle worked out now, so that our first payroll of the year won’t be a mess.”

Peter Bodell, head of information systems at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also said he is looking forward to an “uneventful” new year. He has spent much of the last two years devising and overseeing the implementation of a strategic plan for the museum’s technology systems, including Y2K preparedness. The job is nearly done, and the county, which maintains the museum’s buildings and grounds, has approved the facility’s Y2K compliance, he said.

Trouble-Shooting, From Security to Fax Machines

LACMA, like other museums, could still suffer power outages, telephone failures and other problems it can’t control. “But we’ve put some contingency plans in place for the end of the year, so that we will be able to communicate with each other if telephones go down,” Bodell said.

The scene is much the same at other museums around town. Over the past year and a half, the Huntington has conducted a complete inventory of objects and equipment that might cause problems--from simple fax machines to complicated security and climate control systems--and upgraded or replaced them as needed, said Laurie Sowd, operations director. Similar work has been done at the Simon, the Skirball and UCLA’s Hammer and Fowler. After running repeated tests, most museum directors and technical administrators express confidence.

“I don’t want to sound cocky, but I’ll be more surprised if we have problems than if we don’t,” said Robert Blumin, chief administrative officer at the Skirball.

Nonetheless, some museum officials will not rest completely easy until all their efforts prove effective.

Extra security officers will be on duty at the Huntington’s New Year’s Eve fund-raiser for the new MaryLou and George Boone Gallery. And, as always, the Huntington has coordinated its emergency response plans with the city of San Marino, Sowd said.

Some of LACMA’s employees will be carrying cell phones and drinking nonalcoholic beverages at New Year’s Eve parties, just in case trouble arises. “I’m definitely on call, as is my entire staff,” Bodell said.

Meanwhile at the Getty Center, Gillette and a team of facilities, security and information technology services staff will report for duty at the emergency operation center shortly before the clock ticks past midnight on New Year’s Eve. Their job is to conduct a lengthy, painstaking assessment of Y2K compliance.

“I suppose most of us with the prospect of spending the turn of the century in a computer room somewhere wish we had an opportunity to do something just a little bit romantic,” Gillette said. No such luck.

Just after midnight, the team will begin checking all the buildings and security “to determine whether they are operational and functional and secure,” she said. “Then we will move to the computer and telephone infrastructure, just to make sure those things are continuing to operate. Finally, we will test and validate the key computer applications that have to be operational in order for us to open to the public on Sunday.”

The assessment is expected to be complete around noon on Jan. 1. “At that time, we will decide whether or not the Getty Center is safe to occupy and therefore can be open to the public on Jan. 2,” she said.

The plan gives the Getty “the flexibility to be closed on Sunday, if we have to, without disrupting the personal plans of a lot of visitors,” Gillette said. “We had to make this decision several months ago to make sure we did not take reservations for Jan. 2. As the year comes to an end here, we grow more and more confident that we will be able to open on that Sunday, but I’m still glad we took the precautions.”