Panel Backs Kids Museums in Valley and Downtown

The city’s Recreation and Parks Commission voted Monday to approve proposals by the Los Angeles Children’s Museum to build new campuses in the Hansen Dam Recreation Area in Lake View Terrace and the downtown Art Park area near Little Tokyo.

The commission action, which still requires approval by the City Council, authorized a dollar-a-year lease for the museum on city-owned property at Hansen Dam.

One potential glitch emerged after the city attorney’s office ruled that $9 million in park bond money has to be spent on the downtown site, which will force the museum to do more fund-raising to pay for the new museum in the San Fernando Valley.

However, there is $3.5 million in city and state funding available for the Hansen Dam site, in part because the city will drop plans for an Environmental Awareness Center proposed for the site, according to Councilman Alex Padilla.

“The museum will incorporate environmental issues,” Padilla said.

The museum should be able to raise the money needed for both facilities, according to museum board chairman Doug Ring.

Even so, Padilla won assurances that the city’s agreement will require all the funds for both museums to be raised before work can begin on either project.

“Hansen Dam is absolutely the right place for the Children’s Museum,” said Parks Commission Chairman Steve Soboroff, a candidate for mayor. “We are trying to make Hansen Dam a regional draw for all of Los Angeles.”