Japanese American Museum creating center for democracy

Armed with federal dollars and an ambition to boost education about democracy and diversity, officials at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles on March 28 will begin a renovation and expansion project to create a National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the site of an old Buddhist temple.

The center, backed with $20 million in start-up funding secured from Congress by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) in 2000, will focus on “how we teach our young people about democracy,” said Chris Komai, public information manager for the Japanese American National Museum. Although the museum has been incubating the project, Komai said, the new center will eventually be run by a separate staff and board.

The project site, at 369 E. 1st St. in Little Tokyo, is a 1925 brick building that fell from use as a temple in 1969 and is owned by the city. Under a lease agreement, it served from 1992 to 2002 as home to the Japanese American National Museum, which has moved to new and larger quarters next door.

To renovate and expand the space for the new center, Komai said, organizers have hired architect Brenda Levin, a specialist in historic preservation who has worked on many Los Angeles landmarks.

Construction is expected to take 18 months, with the opening set for fall 2004. Initial plans call for an exhibition examining the roles played in World War II by Americans of color.

The project is led by Irene Hirano, executive director of the museum and CEO of the center, with support from two to three ex-museum staffers.