2 O.C. Cities Are Museum Site Semi-Finalists

At least two Orange County cities are among 10 semi-finalists competing to become the new home for Los Angeles’ Southwest Museum of Native American artifacts.

Garden Grove city officials submitted a formal proposal to the 79-year-old museum, which is looking to move from its cramped venue in northeast Los Angeles.

Museum officials, who have begun to evaluate the proposals, confirmed that Garden Grove and Los Angeles are among the semi-finalists, but would not identify any other cities.

“Our goal is to have the proposals thoroughly analyzed and perhaps have the list cut down to half” by the end of January, Southwest executive director Thomas H. Wilson said.

Officials are hoping for a new facility more than twice the size of its existing 45,000-square foot venue. Construction of a new building would cost at least $35 million, officials say.

Garden Grove officials have said that two downtown sites were being considered, but recently refused to discuss specifics in order to remain competitive.

“We felt our proposal contained everything the museum was looking for,” said Matthew Fertal, the city’s community development director.

Santa Ana officials had expressed preliminary interest in the Southwest relocation, although they requested an exclusive right to negotiate and said a formal bid probably would not be made. City officials did not return several recent calls from The Times, however.