CHILDREN'S MUSEUM DIRECTOR FORCED OUT DIERKING DIDN'T RAISE FINAL $14 MILLION.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer

LAKE VIEW TERRACE -- The executive director of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles was forced out Friday after failing to raise the final $14 million needed to open the cultural landmark in 2007, officials said.

A former planning director for City Councilman Alex Padilla, Mark Dierking shepherded the $52 million project through the planning and permit process during his 15 months on the job.

But museum executives say he failed to attract the star power and wealthy donors willing to make the big-money contributions needed to complete the exhibits and support the state-of- the-art museum.

``We are grateful to him for getting us here, getting this (museum) in the ground and getting it up,'' said Bruce Corwin, co-chairman of the museum's board.

``But it was a short-term hire, he knew it and we knew it. He was hired because he was Alex Padilla's assistant, and he knew the ins and outs.

``When we hired Mark, his sole function was to get us in the ground, and he did that. Now we realize that we need a different skill set,'' Corwin said.

The 57,000-square-foot, wedge-shape museum is being built at Hansen Dam Recreation Area, and officials say construction is on schedule for a late 2007 completion date.

The board plans to launch a nationwide search for a replacement to finalize the project and oversee its opening. Corbin hinted that the board might consider politicians being forced from office because of term limits.

Dierking said he was grateful to have participated in construction of the San Fernando Valley's first major cultural institution.

``We have laid a good foundation for the museum,'' he said. ``My expertise and experience has always been with the entitlement and land-use process ... My expertise has never been with programming of the museum.

``We are looking over a healthy transition, and I will remain on board until the end of the year.''

Officials have been frustrated by the pace of fundraising since ground was broken on the project in October 2005.

In an interview last month, Dierking complained he had not been able to attract major donors from the Valley. He also said that contributors from other parts of Los Angeles doubted the Lake View Terrace museum could lure sufficient visitors from across the region.

Of the $38 million raised so far, $17 million has come from public coffers and $21million from mostly non-Valley donors and foundations.

``Everyone loves children -- it should be a slam-dunk,'' Corwin said. ``We haven't been able to tap the Hollywood community, and all the studios are in the Valley. And that is our fault.''

Long seen as a cultural stepchild to the museums over the hill, the Valley has fought for years to open large-scale cultural institutions.

California State University, Northridge, and the Valley Cultural Center in Woodland Hills have dueling plans to build a $100million performing-arts center, and another developer is working on plans to build a 10,000-seat arena in Woodland Hills.

The new Children's Museum will overlook the lake at Hansen Dam, with hiking trails and a willow forest as part of the landscaping.

Designed by architect Sarah Graham -- known for incorporating environmentally friendly materials in her designs -- the museum will be enveloped by walls of synthetic and real grass.

Billed as ``an artistic laboratory to capture the imagination of children,'' the interactive exhibits -- designed by Edwin Schlossberg, husband of Caroline Kennedy -- will allow toddlers to frolic in acoustic pillows, and there will be a black-box theater wrapped with a chalkboard.

The original museum -- designed in 1979 by renowned architect Frank Gehry -- closed in 2000, when plans were in the works to build sister facilities in Little Tokyo and at Hansen Dam.

But after a slow start in fundraising, the museum board dropped plans for the Little Tokyo site to focus on the Valley location.

Owned by the city, a 1-acre parcel of the 1,400-acre Hansen Dam park is leased to the museum for $1 a year.

``This is going to be a showcase,'' said Richard Katz, a former Assembly member from Van Nuys who sits on the museum board. ``We are looking for somebody who wants a challenge and to create a landmark. They will have a role in creating something unique and lasting.''

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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