Opening of children's museum put off until summer of 2010
The Los Angeles Children's Museum needs another $26 million to complete its new home in the San Fernando Valley.
Lack of funds prompted officials this week to delay the opening of the Los Angeles Children's Museum to the summer of 2010 -- the third time the date to reopen the facility has been pushed back since the nonprofit closed its snug downtown location in 2000.
The cash-strapped museum is struggling to raise $26 million to build and install ecologically themed exhibits in its new home at Hansen Dam in the San Fernando Valley. The angular facility sits empty in a northeast corner of the recreation area.
The situation prompted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to announce Friday that he's joining with former Mayor Richard Riordan to recruit new directors for the museum's 23-member board to begin a vigorous fundraising campaign to ensure the museum opens its doors.
"Raising the millions of dollars we need during the current economic downturn is particularly challenging," wrote Cecilia Aguilera Glassman, the museum's director, in a letter to Karen Sisson, the city's chief administrative officer, this week. "but all parties involved in the museum remain committed to seeing it open."
Delays and rising construction materials costs have boosted the overall price for the new facility by 32% since officials announced the Hansen Dam location in 2002. The current estimate is $53 million, with $2 million required to operate the museum each year once it opens.
Officials also revealed the results this week of a review of the museum's business plan completed at the mayor's request. Museum directors at the Skirball, Autry National Center, Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert and the California Science Center found that Los Angeles Children's Museum officials face challenges in persuading residents to visit the new far-flung facility.
The review also found that the museum overestimated its attendance once it opened and that its revenue and fundraising projections were also too high.
In an interview, Glassman said since she came on board last spring the museum has reached several milestones, including averting a fiscal crisis that left it unable to pay construction workers and finishing the shell of its facility last fall. The museum also received the largest private donation in its 29-year history last October, when an anonymous donor pledged $10 million.
