Wachs Prods MTA on Museum Project
City Councilman Joel Wachs urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to proceed in good faith as it began negotiations Friday to provide land for the Los Angeles Children’s Museum to relocate next to the North Hollywood subway station.
MTA officials have raised questions about whether the museum’s demand for a $1-a-year lease would be the best return on the agency’s investment in valuable real estate around the Red Line station, due to open in June.
But, in a letter to MTA Chief Executive Officer Julian Burke, Wachs warned that the agency might miss a great opportunity if it does not try to make the project work.
“The North Hollywood Metro Red Line Station cannot survive as an island surrounded by wasteland,” Wachs wrote. “It must be surrounded by invigorating projects that will create ridership.”
Wachs said he is trying to arrange for construction of child care and parking facilities near the station to complement the museum project.
However, the museum board of directors is also looking at five other sites for relocating its cramped downtown museum into an expanded building.
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