Panel OKs Griffith Park Location : Autry Museum Corrals a Site

The proposed $12-million Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum apparently found a home Tuesday when a Los Angeles City Council committee eagerly approved building it in Griffith Park.

Construction of the museum was unanimously approved by the Board of Referred Powers over the objections of the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.

The department contended that allowing the museum in the park would set an undesirable precedent that could lead to more requests for use of scarce urban parkland.

However, the board asserted that the museum would enhance the public’s enjoyment of the park.

“We should get down on our hands and knees and thank God for Mr. Autry’s bringing this to Los Angeles,” said Councilman John Ferraro, a board member.

Western Artifacts, Exhibits

The Autry Foundation was created by Autry’s first wife, Ina Mae, who died in 1980, and it is run by Jackie Autry, now the former cowboy star’s wife. The foundation proposes to build a 70,000- to 100,000-square-foot museum to house Western artifacts, including the 10,000-piece collection recently acquired from the Frontier Museum in Temecula, in Riverside County.

The foundation has said it would pay the entire cost of building and operating the museum.

Exhibits will include paintings, saddles and more than 60 life-size wax figures of famous characters of the West, including Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and Wyatt Earp. It will also house memorabilia of some of the best-known movie cowboys, including a large display on John Wayne and, of course, Gene Autry.

The site approved Tuesday is west of the Golden Street Freeway, next to the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot.

Previous Effort

The foundation had previously tried to build the museum in Buena Vista Park in Burbank but abandoned that proposal in the face of strong opposition by environmentalists and park neighbors.

There was no public opposition at Tuesday’s meeting. And Los Angeles city officials welcomed the museum with open arms.

Councilman Joel Wachs, whose district includes the proposed museum site, called the foundation’s offer to build the museum in Los Angeles “a great opportunity” for the city.

Wachs also disputed the Recreation and Parks Department’s argument that a museum is not compatible with park use. He pointed out that several museums are in other urban parks, including Exposition Park near the University of Southern California.

Ferraro said the museum would attract “people from all over the world” to Los Angeles.

Chances Look Good

A spokesman for Mayor Tom Bradley said the mayor also supports building the museum in Griffith Park.

The full council must approve construction of the museum there. Chances for that appear good after Tuesday’s favorable recommendations by the board and by the councilman of the district in which the museum is to be built.

The board was asked to act on the matter by the city’s Recreation and Park Commission, which normally decides park uses.