UCLA relinquished control of the Ocean Discovery Center in Santa
Monica last month after lengthy talks with the center’s new
parent organization, Heal the Bay.
The center, which opened in September 1996 with the aim of
providing hands-on learning for schoolchildren during the week,
experienced difficulty attracting visitors on the weekend, said
John Sandbrook, assistant provost for the College of Letters &
Science.
“It was a real drain for us,” Sandbrook said.
With budget cuts coming in, UCLA could no longer support the
center.
“We tried everything but (being open on) Sunday to get
grants,” Sandbrook said.
In the end, Heal the Bay, an environmental organization
dedicated to keeping Southern California coastal waters clean,
agreed to take over the lease of the 4,000 square-foot
aquarium.
Former center Director Steve Strand said UCLA had been
discussing the idea of making the center a “real community
thing” with Heal the Bay for about three years before the
organization acquired the lease.
“I think they’ll do a better job than we did,”
Strand said.
Strand, an academic administrator in the Life Science Core, said
he believes Heal the Bay is better at dealing with the public,
which is where UCLA fell short. He explained that UCLA
administrators were running the center in their spare time, whereas
the 10,000-member organization Heal the Bay will be able to give
the center more attention.
Heal the Bay and the city of Santa Monica are currently working
with UCLA to make sure that the center’s doors stay open,
said Hallie Jones, public affairs manager for the Heal the Bay.
The center, which attracted 20,000 schoolchildren per year, is
currently only open to school children or private parties if
reservations are made in advance.
“We’re in an interim period right now,” Jones
said.
Jones explained that current discussion is concentrating on the
future of the center.
“Our focus is making sure that people get a chance to
learn about Santa Monica Bay and the marine life that lives in
(the) bay,” Jones said.
Despite the closures on weekends, UCLA administrators emphasized
that the center will continue to provide the services it has
offered from the start.
“The bottom line is that this isn’t that big of a
change,” Strand said.
Sandbrook added that the center’s operations will remain
the same; the main difference is that UCLA’s name will be
removed from the facility.