VALLEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM ABOUT TO GET OFF THE GROUND.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer After years of delays and fundraising
With the $21 million construction budget in the bank, museum operators plan to hold a groundbreaking Oct. 18 for the interactive children's center with an environmental-education bent. They hope to finish the building by January 2007. ``For everybody involved in the project, it's been a long road and we're excited to be breaking ground,'' said Mark Dierking, the museum's executive director. ``This is the first major cultural institution 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 we're excited and pleased to offer it to the local community and surrounding area as well.'' Organizers had to trim the facility's size and amenities to break ground this year and meet grant-funding deadlines. The 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 downtown closed in 2000 and initial plans to build two museums - one in Little Tokyo and one at Hansen Dam - fell through for lack of funding. Hansen Dam was chosen as the site for a single museum and public funding Public funding is money given from tax revenue or other governmental sources to an individual, organization, or entity. See also
The organization must raise additional funds for exhibits. But raising money took longer than organizers had hoped, pushing the construction date back three years. The City Council had adopted a July 31 deadline this year for the group to break ground or lose several million in Proposition K park funding, but the deadline was extended because organizers were so close to construction. The 58,000-square-foot museum will be on the edge of the Hansen Dam Recreational Area, overlooking o·ver·look tr.v. o·ver·looked, o·ver·look·ing, o·ver·looks 1. a. To look over or at from a higher place. b. a swath of willow willow, common name for some members of the Salicaceae, a family of deciduous trees and shrubs of worldwide distribution, especially abundant from north temperate to arctic areas. forest and riparian riparian adj. referring to the banks of a river or stream. (See: riparian rights) habitat. Most of the facility will be on 1.4 acres owned by the city and leased for $1 a year by the Recreation and Parks Department. A park and a portion of the museum is on 1.1 acres owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the flood control basin. Shadow Hills resident Mary Benson questions whether the federal agency should allow construction on the edge of its flood zone. ``In 1978, the area that is proposed, I saw that area under a foot of water. All of a sudden it's OK to build on.'' Dierking said the land for the museum is above the 100-year-flood plain, which is the area that would be at risk in a major storm. The Army Corps of Engineers environmental assessment on the project is available for public review and comment through Sept. 14 at the Lake View Terrace Library. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): map Map: Proposed children's museum site Daily News |
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