Southwest Museum Flunks Fire Inspection… and May Have New Management?

Southwest Museum

Jesus Sanchez, writing in The Eastsider LA, reports that the Autry has "tentatively" found an organization to assume management of the Southwest Museum. The Autry has been looking for a suitable organization for eons (since 2003). Though the Autry declined to name the organization, it told Sanchez that it had "recently executed a pre-development agreement" for use of the Southwest Museum and the historic Casa de Adobe. "While specific details have not yet been determined, the selected respondent will spend the next several months exploring the best path forward."

Meanwhile the Southwest Museum is "temporarily closed" after a fire department inspection. It had been open on an extremely limited basis (Saturdays only). The Autry website states,

"The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) recently performed a regular inspection of the Southwest Museum campus, and due to a number of safety concerns found by the inspectors, the Autry has announced that the Southwest Museum campus will temporarily close to the public until further notice.

"LAFD brought a number of issues to the attention of the Autry, all of which must be addressed and complied with per the City of Los Angeles' municipal code. The Autry is reviewing LAFD’s report and assessing the timeline and fiscal impact of the repairs needed as identified by LAFD."

Though the timing is awkward, I assume it's been clear to any "pre-development" parties that the Southwest Museum needs a lot of TLC and is being offered as is.

Comments

esotouric said…
Thank you for your reporting. We obtained a copy of the fire inspection that triggered the closure of the Southwest Museum, and it's trivial stuff. More worrying, the museum has npw been erased from Google Maps and the dedicated page of the Autry Museum website about the older museum now redirects to a general "about the Autry" page. You can read the report and more here: https://esotouric.substack.com/southwestmuseum