Long-awaited Oakland Museum renovation to start (East Bay Business Times)

 The Oakland Museum of California early next month will begin the first major renovation in its 38-year history.

Much of the $53 million project will enhance the museum's permanent galleries with more space, more interactivity and more flexibility.

The museum's galleries haven't changed much since the museum opened in 1969, said Lori Fogarty, who joined the museum as executive director in January 2006. "They were completely revolutionary when they opened, especially the history gallery," she said, "but expectations have changed."

Fogarty and Sheryl Wong, chair of the museum foundation's board of trustees, said the renovation is a great opportunity for the museum to build its visibility not only in Oakland but throughout the East Bay. "The museum can be a part of the rebranding of Oakland," Fogarty said, referring to the Oakland Partnership, the public-private partnership designed to boost Oakland's economic growth, including the arts and digital media.

"Any renovation would definitely enhance the museum itself, and hopefully increase attendance," said Manette Belliveau, executive director of the Oakland Convention & Visitors Bureau. Annual attendance in fiscal 2005-2006 was more than 180,000, and was close to that in the recent fiscal year.

Although just getting under way, the project dates back to 1999, when the museum's board of trustees approved a master plan to revitalize the museum's three permanent galleries. The museum itself, a public-private partnership between the city and the 18-year-old Oakland Museum of California Foundation, is one of the largest cultural institutions in the Bay Area, with a $13 million annual budget.

The four-year, two-phase renovation will touch almost every part of the museum. The project will add 4,280 square feet in the Gallery of California Art and 7,200 square feet in the natural sciences gallery. The project will also improve disabled visitor access, while better defining the Oak Street entrance. The museum was originally designed so people could wander around indoor-outdoor spaces through several different entrances. A new 90-foot canopy over the Oak Street entrance will give the museum a stronger street presence.

As it builds more dynamic and flexible galleries, oral histories and storytelling will play a larger role, especially in the history gallery. To that end, the museum will incorporate more technology in the form of cell phone tours and podcasts, for example. The museum will provide the content; visitors will in essence have the devices to view or hear that content.

"The key to technology is not to let it run the museum but to use it as a tool," Wong said. "The great thing is that technology allows us to reach so many people."

Remaining open throughout the renovation is just one challenge the museum faces. It is now at 86 percent of its total fund-raising goal of $53 million, but still has to raise another $7 million. The museum got a big jump on its capital campaign with $23.6 million in public funds from Measure G - a 2002 public bond measure that raised $59 million to fund capital improvements at the museum, the Oakland Zoo, and Chabot Space & Science Center - and several corporate and foundation donations.

mscanlon@bizjournals.com | 925-598-1405

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