CHILDREN'S MUSEUM BREAKS GROUND AT HANSEN DAM SITE.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Dark rain clouds and cool weather couldn't dampen spirits Tuesday as politicians and community leaders celebrated the long-awaited groundbreaking of the new Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Children's Museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs that stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are at Hansen Dam Hansen Dam in Los Angeles County, California was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District in 1939 and 1940. The project is located near the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley on Tujunga Wash, about one mile below the confluence of the Big Tujunga Wash . After fundraising difficulties and lengthy delays, supporters launched work on the $43 million museum, touted as the first major cultural facility in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and an architecturally significant building on par with Disney Hall or the Getty Center Getty Center, art museum complex in Brentwood, Calif. operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust. It consists of six buildings on 124 acres (50 hectares) located on a spectacular promontory overlooking Los Angeles. . ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about you, but I'm borderline giddy today,'' Council President and museum advocate Alex Padilla Alex Padilla is a politician in California. He was elected as the State Senator for the 20th District of California in November 2006 and was inaugurated in early December. In order to enter the Senate he had to resign as Councilman for the 7th District on the Los Angeles City told the crowd. Despite the weather, the groundbreaking drew scores of neighbors, literati literati Scholars in China and Japan whose poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were supposed primarily to reveal their cultivation and express their personal feelings rather than demonstrate professional skill. , local schools and well-known political figures such as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. and Caroline Kennedy This article is about the daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. For the late wife of President Kennedy's son, see Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is the daughter and only surviving child of U.S. - whose husband, Edwin Schlossberg, designed the museum exhibits. ``What Walt Disney Hall is to music and the Getty Center is to art, the new Children's Museum will be to Los Angeles' kids and families,'' Villaraigosa said. When it opens in 2007, the 57,000-square-foot museum is expected to entertain visitors with its unique design as well as interactive exhibits. Attendees at the groundbreaking Tuesday got a sneak peek with a virtual video tour showing sketches of the interior and exterior. ``It's going to be so cool. The art and exhibits will be really, really awesome,'' said Christopher Cruz, a 10-year-old student at Angeles Mesa Elementary School. Classmate Oscar Rodriguez agreed: ``It'll be cool when I'm really old; I can bring my children to the museum and then their children can come to the museum and then their children can come.'' Organizers expect to draw 360,000 visitors to the Hansen Dam site, which overlooks the park's recreational lake and willow forest and marks a dramatic departure from the museum's previous cramped facility downtown. ``No more parking tickets downtown,'' joked Jennifer Lettelleir, the museum's performing arts director. Indeed, she and Reading Edge literacy arts program director Kymberly Evans said they are eager to move into a state-of-the-art facility after five years on the road. ``It's going to be great. I've been traveling and seeing children's museums around the country and this is going to be an amazing facility,'' Evans said. The original museum closed its doors in 2000 with plans to build two new facilities - one in Little Tokyo and one at Hansen Dam. After a slow start in fundraising, the museum board dropped plans for the Little Toyko site to focus on the Hansen Dam site. The land is owned by the city and leased to the museum for $1 a year. Organizers are still raising $16.5 million for the museum's exhibits and staffing, plus an additional $10 million for an endowment. San Fernando resident Robert Villafana said he was pleased the museum chose to move to the Northeast Valley, an area too often known for landfills and junkyards. ``People say that the kids are the future, but you have to give them some positive images. This will give the kids something positive, something they can look forward to.'' Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Kids and dignitaries armed with shovels break ground on the $43 million, 57,000-square-foot Children's Museum at Hansen Dam on Tuesday. John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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