Inland Empire Market Report

Two Museums Under Construction in Hemet

 

One museum will be devoted to the importance of water to the region while the other will display artifacts and fossils unearthed during construction of a reservoir. The museums, which cost $66 million to build, will open in summer 2006.

Construction of a pair of museum projects on a 22-acre site in Hemet is on the downhill side of construction.

The two museums, being built side by side, will have 63,000 sq. ft. of space (photo by Greg Aragon).

Located at the eastern edge of Diamond Valley Lake, the museums at Domenigoni Parkway and Lyon Roadwill cost $66 million to build and combine for a total of 63,000 sq. ft.

The 30,000-sq.-ft. Center for Water Education will be devoted to education about the importance of water to the region. It will provide interactive exhibits and displays, as well as programs and seminars about the precious resource. It is being developed by a not-for-profit foundation, called the Center for Water Education, formed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The water museum will abut Diamond Valley Lake, a reservoir built between 1993 and 1999 at a cost of about $2 billion. When it opened in 2000, the 260-billion-gallon lake became Southern California's largest drinking-water reservoir, holding a six-month supply of water for Southern California.

The 33,000-sq.-ft. Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology, which will display and study the thousands of prehistoric bones and artifacts uncovered in 1993 during excavations for nearby Diamond Valley Lake, will be situated across a plaza from the water museum.

The discoveries are a myriad of intact Mastodon skeletons and mitten sites of native peoples.

The greatest of these finds is "Max," the largest and most complete adult mastodon skeleton to be uncovered in the western United States. Thanks to radiometric dating, scientists believe that Max (who is estimated to be more than 12-ft. high at the shoulders) and other ancient treasures found at the site are between 11,000 to 60,000 years old.

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This museum is being developed by the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology.

"One of the big challenges on this project was interfacing with the exhibit designers," because the buildings were designed before the exhibits were programmed, said Frank Gangi, project manager with Glendale-based Gangi Development, the general contractor for the museums.

Installation of the hydronic floor system, which uses radiant metal tubing to heat and cool the base, required extensive floor space.

"Some of the exhibits require additional interior-wall framing and structure," Gangi said. "And we have a hydronic floor system that can't be punctured."

The project, which broke ground in June 2003, was designed by Glendale-based Lehrer/Gangi Design+Build. It is currently about 60-percent finished, with building enclosures nearing completion.

The museums are slated to open in summer 2006.

"Our design concept celebrates the lake's east dam and its incredible technology," said architect Michael Lehrer.

"The landscaping will include features that recognize the importance of water and people in Southern California and includes plant species that existed in the six-county MWD region prior to the availability of bountiful water."

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