MAIN LIBRARY — And the rest is history.
The Santa Monica Historical Society Museum has a new home — a 5,000 square-foot facility here that will house the museum’s extensive collection of roughly 500,000 photographs, newspapers and city documents for at least the next couple of decades.
With the stroke of a pen Monday, the society entered into a 20-year-lease with City Hall that has the museum paying just $1 a year for the space. Currently, the museum is located in a temporary facility at 1539 Euclid Street, which is only about 3,000 square feet, according to Louise Gabriel, president and CEO of the society.
“We are going to have more space, which will allow us to display more of our collection — something we haven’t been able to do before,” said Gabriel. “We are going to have something for everyone. It’s going to be a very exciting museum.”
The museum’s shell was completed with the construction of the Main Library, however, the society is still raising funds to complete the inside, which will feature several interactive exhibits and an expanded research library.
There will be areas specifically dedicated to recreation and the arts, as well as the Outlook newspaper and Donald Douglas Aircraft Company, which was located at the site of Santa Monica Airport during the 1920s.
The grand opening is scheduled for sometime in the summer of 2007.
Museum staff has embarked on a $5 million capital campaign. Roughly $1.5 million will help pay for the completion, while the remainder will go towards creating an endowment, bolster program-ming, historical preservation and day-to-day operations, Gabriel said.
Regalbuto, a long-time Santa Monica resident, is the honorary spokesperson for the campaign.
Gabriel said the museum’s collection has grown along with its popularity, creating the need for a larger space and staff.
Those who donate $500 or more will receive special recognition on the “Wall of Legacy,” a permanent fixture in the new museum. To contribute, the public is urged to call (310) 395-2290, or visit www.santa-monicahistory.org.
The museum will, in many ways, be an extension of the Main Library, said Greg Mullen, the city’s head librarian.
“The library vision statement includes ‘preserving the past’ as a key element,” Mullen said. “This makes the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum a logical partner to share space in the new Main Library campus. We look forward to many opportunities to collaborate with the museum on programs and resource development in the years ahead.”
Mullen said the first opportunity for collaboration will be the cross-promotion of each other’s collection of images, which will be digitized to allow for greater access.
Those who accompanied Gabriel and Mullen for the lease signing included Mayor Bob Holbrook and City Council members Kevin McKeown and Pam O’Connor, City Manager Lamont Ewell, and Barbara Stinchfield, director of community and cultural services.
“This is going to be a real showcase museum,” said McKeown. “I like the idea of having our history exhibited in a center such as this, where people who are visiting the library may wander in and discover why Santa Monica has such a strong identity... Santa Monica has been a happening place for more than a century.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 5, 2006. Read the original PDF.