April 14, 2010 -- After a long wait, the Santa Monica Historical Society is close to moving to its new, permanent home at the Santa Monica Library campus. A summer grand opening is expected for the 5,000-square-foot complex that will feature photos, artifacts and other exhibits to teach visitors about the history of Santa Monica from the pre-Columbian period to the present.

“We’ll have the location right in Downtown Santa Monica, where there is lots of foot traffic and it is a natural fit with the library, where lots of research is done,” said Ho Nguyen, the Society’s director of operations and exhibits designer.

“We can partner with the library because they have a great photo archive, and they host many programs about Santa Monica history as well,” he added.

The Society began raising funds several years ago with a $5 million capital campaign to build the museum and to sustain its operations and programming. The City has offered the space at no charge for 20 years, with an option to renew.

Enough money has been raised to complete construction (expected to happen at the end of April) and open the museum, Nguyen said, but the Historical Society is still short of the $5 million goal.

Further donations are being sought, and a recent fundraising dinner attracted more than 200 people, including many community leaders, giving CEO and President Louise Gabriel the confidence that there is still a tremendous interest in what the Historical Society is doing.

Gabriel, who has dedicated more than three decades of her life to preserving Santa Monica’s history, was one of the founding members of the Historical Society in 1975. It was created after a collection of artifacts and photos were put together by the Santa Monica Centennial Committee to celebrate the city’s first 100 years.

“We had the first exhibit of history that the residents had ever seen, and people showed a great interest when they saw this history, and they wanted to see the formation of a historical society,” Gabriel said.

The first museum opened in 1987 in a small space on Third Street. Gabriel’s husband, Bob, a former council member who also took a strong interest in Santa Monica's past, was able to find the location at a low rent. But it was a short-term lease, and the museum had to move again to another short-term, low-rent space before finally moving into its current location on Euclid Street, between Colorado Avenue and Broadway.

“It’s really a residential location,” Historical Society Vice Chair Iao Katagari said of the current museum. “The library is a visible and accessible location that will just naturally enhance the utility of the museum and really increase the value of the mission that it serves.”

The new museum will feature a permanent exhibit gallery containing photos, artifacts and information. Flanking the collection, two interactive exhibits will offer visitors an enjoyable way to learn about Santa Monica’s history.

One exhibit features a replica of the middle-section of a Douglas aircraft under-construction that contains a cargo of information about the company and how it shaped Santa Monica.

It will also have a diorama showing Douglas workers that will provide a glimpse of daily life at the giant plant, which shut down in 1968.

Another exhibit, called “In the Headlines,” will allow museum goers to have their picture snapped in of a front page story from the Outlook Newspaper, Santa Monica’s daily publication for more than 100 years until it folded in 1998. The Historical Society has a collection of Outlook newspapers dating back to the turn of the 20th century.

Visitors can also take a virtual ride on the Whirlwind Dipper Roller Coaster in a replica car that offers a computer-simulated ride on the Santa Monica Pier of the 1920s. In addition, the “Then & Now” exhibit features touch-screen maps of Santa Monica that allow a visitor to select a specific location, bringing up a video showing the history and development of the area.

“There will be something for everyone,” said Gabriel, who noted there will also be a temporary exhibit center featuring a variety of collections.

The hands-on features of this museum “will have a natural effect to trigger each visitor’s mind to think about the contributions they and their family have made to this community” and the heritage of Santa Monica, Katagari said

“The heritage of any community is so important to making the contemporaneous community work,” said Katagari, director of the office of Community Relations for RAND. “But what really makes the community special for all of us is really understanding where this community comes form and who those people were that invested themselves 80, 90, 100 years ago just as you are investing yourself today. There is a connection to be made.”

The museum will also serve as a research center for individuals and organizations wishing to learn more about Santa Monica’s past. The Historical Society’s database of photographs and documents will be easy to navigate using search terms, such as dates and key words. The plan is to eventually put the database online.

“We’re probably at any given time working on four to five research requests coming from the city, organizations, residents, even people from out of state who want to know about a relative,” Nguyen said.

When the museum finally opens, it will mark a milestone for Gabriel, who has dedicated much of her life to Santa Monica and its history. The Michigan native first learned the importance of preservation when a fire destroyed her childhood home.

“All of my mother’s memorabilia was lost, all of her baby pictures, and I realized how important history is,” Gabriel said.

She fell in love with Santa Monica when she came with her family to visit as a young person. Palisades Park was the biggest attraction for Gabriel, and she took more than 100 photos of the palm-studded park above the Pacific. Gabriel soon made Santa Monica her permanent home, and she met her future husband, who, as chance would have it, also was from Michigan.

“We have always loved Santa Monica,” she said. “We’ve traveled around the world, and we have not found any place that we would want to live than here.”

Those wanting to contribute to the museum either with monetary donations or items of historic value should contact Ho Nguyen at 310.395.2290. People are also encouraged to visit the web site at www.santamonicahistory.org.