North County : Museum’s New Funding Request Less Ambitious

With revised plan in hand, the Museum of North Orange County will once again ask Fullerton City Council members for money.

But unlike the proposal that council members denied in March, the request the city will hear Tuesday is for a loan that would be repaid in 10 years. And instead of the original $900,000, the request has been cut by a third to $600,000.

A museum task force, appointed by the City Council and the Fullerton Museum Assn. after the turndown, has scratched the idea of a catering service, as originally proposed.

The catering service was one of several stumbling blocks that led to the city’s rejection of the $900,000 request. Also influencing some council members, said museum director Michael Mudd, was the city’s concern for the private sector and the proposed use of redevelopment funds.

In its presentation Tuesday, city staff is expected to recommend adoption of the task force proposal, which also suggests that the museum remain in its present location in the old main library building at Pomona and Wilshire avenues. Museum officials had considered building a new facility on either public or private property.

The city leases the building from the College District of North Orange County for $1 a year--which Councilman Chris Norby called “a pretty good deal.” Norby, one of two council members earlier this year to support city funding for the museum, said last week he plans to vote again for the museum financing.