Execute a Sole Source Contract to Help Fund the Development of Air
Quality - Related Educational Exhibits at the California Museum of Science and
Industry's California Science Center
BOARD MEETING DATE: June 14, 1996
AGENDA NO. 6
Proposal:
Execute a Sole Source Contract to Help Fund the Development of Air
Quality Related Educational Exhibits at the California Museum of
Science and Industry’s California Science Center.
Synopsis:
The California Museum of Science and Industry (CMSI) is developing modern,
interactive exhibits addressing environmental, transportation, and global
consequences of air pollution for its Creative World section of the newly
constructed California Science Center. AQMD’s cost-share for this
important outreach program is $100,000. The museum is an admission-free,
public facility which offers a wide range of educational programs to teachers,
children and the general public.
Committee:
Administrative, May 24, 1996, Recommended for Approval
Recommended Action:
Authorize the Chairman to execute a sole-source contract with the
California Museum of Science and Industry (CMSI) in an amount not
to exceed $100,000 for the development of air quality-related educational
exhibits at CMSI’s California Science Center.
James M. Lents, Ph.D.
Executive Officer
Background California Health and Safety Code Section 40448(a) establishes the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Office of Public Advisor authority to provide technical services and information to the general public. The California Museum of Science and Industry, which annually serves more than 200,000 school children and two million visitors, is implementing a new Master Plan for the Museum and Exposition Park which will result in the establishment of the California Science Center. Constructed on the site of the present Museum, the California Science Center will be three separate, but wholly integrated facilities dedicated to science education, including:
a new 600,000 square foot science center, which will include a healthy planet segment called Earth Alert;
a science education resource center, to improve the skills of experienced educators as well as college students in training to be math and science teachers; and
a pre-kindergarten through 5th grade elementary school, drawing enrollment from the neighborhoods surrounding Exposition Park, with a curriculum emphasis on math and science.
The California Science Center, with its combination of formal learning facilities and programs in one location, will be one of the few facilities of its kind in the country. The Museum is developing the project in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the University of Southern California, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology.
Proposal The California Science Center will feature two exhibition themed areas. The 20,000 square foot Creative World exhibit will include 75 hands-on exhibits, including major sections on transportation, air quality and environmental issues. Creative World will deliver its scientific content and health and safety messages through-hands-on experiences and visual images. The Earth Alert exhibits will provide visitors with hands-on displays and air quality video images such as a smoggy day in Los Angeles in relation to a beautiful clear day, and a haze-filled traffic jam compared to an uncongested freeway alongside public transportation options. The One Smoggy Day exhibit located in the Air Alert area will inform visitors about the daily air quality conditions and the health impact of smog in the Los Angeles Basin. After watching a live video feed, noting the current air conditions, visitors will view a 3-D bar graph representing the primary sources of air pollution, including everything from auto traffic and fueling stations to commercial dry cleaning and home barbecues.
The exhibit also will include an element that looks at the environment and the economic issues associated with the consequences of air pollution. All the exhibits will be designed to convey a message of personal responsibility for the earth on which we live.
The District’s sponsorship will help the California Science Center secure the needed funds to support the project’s educational programming.
Sole Source Justification Section II, Step 3(C) of the Consultant Selection Policy and Procedure identified four provisions under which the Executive Officer may award a sole-source bid: (1) cost to prepare documents exceeds cost for consultant; (2) delay would result in the endangerment of public health; (3) services are only available from sole source; and (4) other circumstances exist identifying sole-source as in the best interest of the AQMD. This request is made under provision (3). The new California Science Center is scheduled for completeion in the summer of 1997; it is estimated that more than three million people will visit the new facility annually. Included in this figure will be 200,000 school children who each year will participate in the Center’s science activities and tours.
Resource Impacts The total cost of this project is $130 million, with $101 million already committed from public sources. A separate $29 million fund-raising campaign has been launched to secure funds exclusively for the education programs. AQMD’s $100,000 sponsorship would support the educational programs component of the Creative World exhibit.
Sufficient funds are available in the FY 1995-96 budget to fund this project.
This page updated:
July 09, 2015
URL: ftp://lb1/hb/1996/June/96066a.html
