With news that the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum closed its deal to purchase the Balboa Fun Zone and will relocate there, we at "The Log" got to wondering how its presence in a new location could change the Newport Harbor bayfront.
Setting up shop at the Fun Zone will definitely make the museum stand out from other Southern California nautical museums in that it will be featured alongside decidedly un-nautical sorts of activities, namely the carnival rides and attractions that have been drawing crowds for decades. Where else can you learn about a region's maritime history, then go for a spin on a carousel, followed by a ride on a Ferris wheel or a rented Duffy boat?
Playing a prominent role at the Fun Zone will also open up the museum to a larger and more diverse audience.
It's not a stretch to imagine people from all over Southern California being introduced to the museum by means of the Fun Zone's other attractions. Families visiting for the day will now have the opportunity to become educated on Newport Harbor's nautical past, present and future in between carnival rides.
In turn, museum devotees will increase traffic to the Fun Zone as they flock to the museum's new facility.
The new location will, in addition, provide the nautical museum with better waterfront access than it currently has, making things like tall ship visits easier to accomplish than before.
Though its current home, aboard "Pride of Newport," near Balboa Marina, is an interesting place to view the museum's exhibitions, it doesn't provide nearly enough space, and much of its permanent collection has been relegated to an offsite storage facility.
With its expansion at the Fun Zone, we expect the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum to become one of Southern California's most extensive and popular maritime outposts - and we can't wait to see it for ourselves.
Museum officials expect the process of moving the current collection to take months, with the museum operating from both Pride of Newport and the Fun Zone until its current lease runs out June 30. The museum will likely still operate in its current location after that, as well, on a month-to-month basis, until everything is removed from "Pride of Newport".