Museum Advanced $1 Million by Council

Backers of a plan to build a children’s museum in Lake View Terrace won an advance of $1 million in city funds and a one-year extension from the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday to help meet fund-raising goals.

Under an agreement with the city, a museum foundation planning the museum in the Hansen Dam Recreation Area was required to raise $7.5 million by June 1, 2002, to receive $2.5 million in matching city park bond funds.

But supporters of the project said state budget problems that have threatened a state grant and difficulty in securing donations after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks mean another year is needed to meet the fund-raising deadline.

“It’s taking a little longer than expected to raise the money,” said David Gershwin, a spokesman for Council President Alex Padilla. “Many nonprofits, including the children’s museum, have been impacted by the events of Sept. 11 as far as fund-raising.”

In addition to the monetary advance and one-year extension, the council voted to require quarterly financial reports on the project to keep it on track.

The foundation has raised about $5 million so far for the project, which is expected to cost $20 million to build and $13 million to furnish with exhibits.

Some groups that wanted to contribute to the project instead gave to relief funds for the Sept. 11 terrorism victims and have delayed consideration of the museum project until 2002, said Camille Wimbley, the foundation’s director of business affairs.

In addition, state budget problems resulted in a reduction in a state grant for the project, she said.

“This extension relieves us. It gives us some breathing room,” Wimbley said.

About $2 million has been spent on design of the museum, which is one of two planned in Los Angeles to replace the now-closed Los Angeles Children’s Museum downtown. The second museum will be in the Little Tokyo area.

The $1-million advance approved by the City Council on Wednesday will allow architectural work to be completed in time for a groundbreaking on the Hansen Dam project in July 2002, said foundation board Chairman Doug Ring.

“This thing is going to get done. I’m not planning on this being another Disney Hall,” Ring said, referring to the downtown concert hall for which fund-raising took years.