Fish out of water
California Academy of Sciences could close for five years

By Cassi Feldman

In March 2000, San Francisco voters approved an $87 million bond measure to rebuild and retrofit the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. What some didn't realize was that the construction could shut the center down for as long as five years.

"That's awful," said Edward Dicks, a longtime member who brings his six-year-old son, Spencer, there every few weeks. "He's going to lose his childhood in that time."

Margot Lowry, a member who lives in Montera, said she learned about the closure only because a staffer mentioned it in passing. "I feel like it's a secret," she said.

The academy, which houses an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a research lab, first opened in 1916. Since then a hundred million people have strolled through its halls. Amy Cramer, public affairs manager for the rebuilding of the academy, said the wear and tear was obvious even before the 1989 earthquake.

Though voters agreed to fund the renovation through city bonds, the academy has been tight-lipped about its plans. It commissioned a Community Advisory Group in April 2001 but won't release a preliminary plan until later this summer.

Regardless, bits of information are starting to filter out, prompting some serious questions: Why is the academy closing for so long? Isn't there a way to do the work in phases? And where will they put all those fish?

Cramer doesn't have many answers. She wouldn't even hazard a guess at how long the academy might be closed.

Jill Wynns, school board president and a consultant on the project, said the museum will likely shut its doors in the last quarter of 2003 and stay closed for three to four years. It could be even longer. One academy staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity told us he'd heard construction might last until 2008.

That's nearly five years during which San Francisco schoolchildren won't have access to one of the city's most popular field trip destinations. Approximately 62,000 local schoolkids visit each year.

Meanwhile, with the closing of the academy, the park's Music Concourse will lose its third major attraction. The Asian Art Museum closed last year to move to a new location in the Civic Center, and the recently demolished M.H. de Young Memorial Museum won't be rebuilt until 2005.

Fortunately, the academy will still exist in some form. "They're looking for places to put different parts," Wynns said. She explained that during the closure the academy will run smaller programs and do outreach to local schools.

The fate of the fish is still unclear, she said. The academy will probably transfer some to other institutions and construct a big "fish hotel" for the rest.

As for why the academy had to shut down completely, Wynns said the architect considered a phased renovation, but it simply wasn't feasible. "This was the only workable way," she told us.

Visitors, however, may disagree. Perhaps that's why they haven't been asked. Some speculate that the academy's quiet progress may be an attempt to avoid the uproar caused by plans to rebuild the de Young and install a parking lot underneath the concourse. Cramer admits that the academy has kept some information under wraps. "We're just not ready to put it all out there," she said.

Members, on the other hand, seem quite ready to respond. "I could see a year or a year and a half," Dicks said. "But five years? Better be a damn good renovation."

E-mail Cassi Feldman at cassi@sfbg.com.