Cities Woo Southwest Museum : Culture: Thousand Oaks says it’s a natural spot for the renowned Indian collection now displayed in L.A. Bids have been solicited from 140 Southland cities.

THOUSAND OAKS —  Eager to establish their city as the cultural center of Ventura County, officials here are trying to woo the Southwest Museum away from Los Angeles by offering a choice of two prominent sites for its world-class collection of Indian artifacts.

Museum officials indicated Wednesday that Thousand Oaks would be in the running if the institution decides to relocate from its cramped Highland Park headquarters--especially if a plot next to the city’s new $64-million Civic Arts Plaza would be available.

“My initial reaction is certainly to encourage a site such as that,” said Michael Heumann, vice president of the museum’s board of trustees. “It has a couple of things that fit what we’re looking for,” including visibility from a major freeway and proximity to other tourist attractions.

The museum has solicited bids from 140 cities in Southern California, including Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura, chosen because of their access to the Ventura Freeway, Heumann said.

Heumann said he expects scores of responses by the Aug. 16 deadline. The museum has already received unsolicited invitations from half a dozen cities eager to play host, including some municipalities willing to donate land and infrastructure, he said.

In Ventura County, with its strong ties to the Chumash Indians, officials are especially excited about the Southwest Museum.

“The museum would have a nice draw here, because we do have an Indian culture here, we have burial grounds here, and the Chumash are very prominent in our community,” Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo said.

Officials in Oxnard and Camarillo said their cities would be interested in having the museum, but they had not chosen possible sites.

In Thousand Oaks, however, leaders had identified two locations for the museum even before they received an official request for proposals. The museum will be invited to inspect 11.5 acres of city-owned land next to the Civic Arts Plaza for a new facility, or the former City Hall, which would be renovated.

With its collection of crafts, manuscripts and photographs, the Southwest Museum attracts 300,000 visitors a year and has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s foremost repositories of American Indian art and archeology.

Both local leaders and Southwest officials see the museum as a possible match for Thousand Oaks’ performing arts complex, now under construction at the former Jungleland wild animal park.

Together with a museum, the performance hall could transform Thousand Oaks from a bedroom community into a regional cultural center, city and museum officials said.

“There is a synergistic effect between groups of attractions located near each other, even though they may be very different in nature,” Heumann said. “People get used to thinking of those places as destinations, and they may go one time to a museum, another to a zoo, and another to an entertainment.”