The empty shell of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles could actually get some life, thanks to $11.8 million in financing and an operations contract with the Discovery Science Center passed by the City Council yesterday. The Lake View Terrace building has sat unused since it was finished; the city took it over in 2009 after the Children's Museum went bankrupt, but hasn't had the funds to run it. However, the city will have to return up to $16 million in grants and funding if it doesn't open the museum by 2016. The city's new plan calls for the Orange County-based Discovery Science Center to open the museum as a satellite campus by May 2015, reports the Daily News (it's tentatively being called the Discovery Science Center - Los Angeles). Exhibits would focus on science, the environment, health, and literacy, with rotating shows that "could include National Geographic presentations and robot projects." In addition to the city's $11.8 million, the DSC is also waiting on $9.2 million in federal grants. It should find out in July if it'll get those (if it doesn't, it'll have to fundraise). And that's all just to open--operating costs will be paid for through ticket sales and private donations, according to the LADN.
· City looks into saving never-opened children's museum in Lake View Terrace [LADN]
· Tick, Tock! Children's Museum Needs to Do Something, Anything [Curbed LA]
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