Plan for Children’s Museums at Hansen Dam, Downtown OKd

The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission voted Monday to approve proposals by the Los Angeles Children’s Museum to build 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 must be spent on the downtown site, which will force the museum to do more fund-raising to pay for a 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, said Councilman Alex Padilla.

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

Padilla won assurances that the city’s agreement will require that all the funds for both museums be raised before work can begin.