Balboa Island Museum prepares for move to bigger home

Newport Beach’s Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society has outgrown its space and will begin moving to a new location just down Marine Avenue in early November.

The museum — currently at 331 Marine Ave. — is going to 210 Marine (formerly Art for the Soul), in one of the street’s first buildings. The move is expected to take about two weeks, with the new site opening Nov. 15. There is no planned interruption in service, the organization said.

The new location will provide about 2,200 square feet, more than tripling the organization’s current space, according to museum President Shirley Pepys. New exhibits are in the works, she said.

“Actually, my daughter, Tiffany Pepys, is working on a surf exhibit and acting as our curator,” Pepys said.

The added size also will enable the museum to expand visitor amenities, community events and educational programs, according to the historical society. The museum store — which helps with fundraising — and a new coffee bar will be in a common space.

The museum’s most popular current exhibits will make the move, including the John Wayne photos and memorabilia exhibit, with plans for the John Wayne Cancer Foundation to expand the collection.

Pepys, the museum’s president for almost three years, said the move has been discussed for two years.

“Our longtime board member Jack Northrup, who passed away earlier this year, had a vision, and with his gift and luck, 210 Marine became our new home,” Pepys said. “I love that it is a historical building as well, built in the ’20s.”

In the late 1990s, Pat Buderwitz — a Balboa Island resident who died in August 2017 — came up with the idea of an island museum at a former fire station at 323 Marine Ave. Other residents were quick to unite behind the plan and begin organizing. But the idea fell through when negotiations with the building’s owner stalled, according to museum founding member Al Shonk.

Undeterred, Buderwitz and fellow volunteers established the nonprofit Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society in 1999. Their meetings and fundraisers were held in homes, the Park Avenue Cafe and the Newport Beach Yacht Club until March 2002, when they settled on a small office space above Island Market on South Bay Front.

Nine years later, the board of directors decided to move the museum to a vintage cottage at 331 Marine Ave. The spot’s location on Balboa Island’s main street, and its outdoor patio, provided more visibility along with better accessibility, since there were no stairs to navigate.

“I had reservations about whether we could afford the move, and I thought the space wasn’t big enough, but it worked out well,” said Shonk, one of the four original officers. He also was treasurer from 1999 to 2008 and president from 2008 to 2011, when he retired.

On a typical day, 50% to 75% of the museum’s visitors are from out of the area, according to museum manager Brittany Webb.

“Visitors usually stumble upon us as they happen to walk by and come in and see what we’re all about,” Webb said. “The museum sees more locals visit when exhibits are new or when they bring in friends.”

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission is free, though donations are accepted.

For more information, call (949) 675-3952 or visit balboaislandmuseum.org.

Susan Hoffman is a contributor to Times Community News.