The Autry National Center can move forward with plans to renovate some exhibition spaces and other public areas after the Los Angeles City Council approved the plans Tuesday.

The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan Tuesday that will allow the Autry National Center to make upgrades. The Trails West outdoor area (above) will be turned into the Native Teaching Garden. (photo courtesy of the Autry National Center)

The upgrades were made possible through a $6.6 million state grant to the Autry. Because the center is located in Griffith Park, the plans first had to be approved by the city Recreation and Parks Commission, which granted the Autry permission to move forward during a hearing on May 20. But the Friends of the Southwest Museum and other community members complained that they did not receive notification about the commission meeting, so the city council scheduled a special meting of its Arts, Parks and Health Committee on June 3 to review the matter. The plans were approved and then sent to the full city council for its review on Tuesday.

Autry president and CEO Daniel Finley said the approval is a major step forward for the center. The renovations will highlight the history and culture of the Native people of Southern California, and will include two dedicated California Indian galleries and an indigenous teaching garden.

“We are very pleased at the Autry that we are able to move forward with using the California NEF Grant to update our galleries and that the L.A. City Council overwhelmingly supports our efforts to display a portion of the Southwest Museum collection at the Autry in Griffith Park,” Finley said.

The Autry Center acquired the Southwest Museum in late-2002, and that museum is currently closed while the Autry attempts to establish a partnership or funding that will enable it to reopen. Autry Center officials plan to display a small percentage of the items from the Southwest Museum in the renovated galleries, but have conceded that it will only be one percent of the Southwest Museum’s 300,000 artifacts. The Friends of the Southwest Museum had hoped that the Autry would use the money from the state grant to reopen the Southwest Museum.

“I think the city as a whole lost in terms of looking at the issue comprehensively,” said Nicole Possert, chair of the Friends of the Southwest Museum. “It was a disappointment, but we expected to have this outcome. I think a lot of good information was discussed, and we were thankful that the city allowed the public to speak.”

Possert said the organization will meet next week to discuss what to do next in its effort to have the Southwest Museum reopened. She said the date, time and location have not yet been established, but the information would be posted at www.friendsofthesouthwestmuseum.com.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Tom LaBonge, 4th District, who represents the area that includes the Autry, said he supports the renovations at the center. LaBonge is also leading an effort to bring people together from both sides to work on possibly reopening the Southwest Museum.

“The City Council considered the matter and supported the independent action of the Recreation and Parks Commission to allow the Autry National Center to fund their planned renovation with a $6.6-million dollar grant from the State of California,” LaBonge said. “I understand and commend the desires of supporters of the Southwest Museum to see it become a viable facility once again. Therefore, during the debate, I introduced a motion, calling on the Autry and all stakeholders to work toward a solution for the Southwest Museum building.  We’ll consider the matter in the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee I chair, in the near future.”

In addition to the upgrades, the Autry National Center has announced that it has acquired an important piece of television history. The hand-drawn Ponderosa Ranch map that was seen during the opening sequence of the popular television series, “Bonanza”, will be displayed in the center’s Imagination Gallery.

The map had been in the collection of series’ creator, David Dortort, and upon his passing in 2010, the Dortort family donated the map to the Autry. It now joins the rest of the David Dortort Archive which includes correspondences, draft and final scripts, audience rating records, awards.