Orange County Cultural and Natural History Museum

PETITION UPDATE: We have 1,622 signatures towards our goal of 2500! Thank you to all who signed!! Please share this petition with your friends and colleagues to help us reach our goal.

UPDATE: We attended the recent Irvine City Council meeting and it appears that Farah Kahn is now the head of the Great Park Commission, which is good news for us. She's a friend and ally of The OC Museum of Cultural and Natural History Task Force Committee. Our representative reminded the Commission that the Museum Task Force, the CCRPA, and all related entities, are still here as active stake holders in the development of of a Museum of Cultural and Natural History at the Cultural Terrace. Keep up the good work everyone!!

MUSEUM UPDATE: Orange County Great Park Board Meeting on 3/26/2019 City Manager John Russo’s report: He, Mayor Wagner, UCI officials and Irvine Chamber of Commerce met with American Museum of Natural History in New York (AMNH) to pitch a museum at the Great Park. The pitch was successful to the extent that the AMNH hired consultants to conduct a feasibility study for a AMNH museum satellite at the O.C. Great Park. The feasibility study is to be completed by June 2019. Thank you for all your support!!!

Great news! Thank you for all your support of the proposed American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) at the Great Park in Irvine!! City Manager John Russo has provided us with an update on the AMNH feasibility study. AMNH retained AECOM to conduct a feasibility study with the following basic scope: Evaluate latest development concept, program, progress and site on the Great Park and it’s match with AMNH goals and objectives Analyze markets and competitive ...environment Project demand Recommend scale Analyze financial performance and funding Evaluate educational opportunities Recommend operating model Great progress has been made, and the study is anticipated to be completed by August/September of this year. See more

PETITION UPDATE: We have 1,622 signatures towards our goal of 2500! Thank you to all who signed!! Please share this petition with your friends and colleagues to help us reach our goal.

THANK YOU!! 1557 people have signed our petition to request a Cultural and Natural History Museum to be built within the Great Park in Irvine so far...please encourage your family, friends, and colleagues to sign the petition as well! Go to the link below to make this museum a reality!

MUSEUM UPDATE: Orange County Great Park Board Meeting on 3/26/2019 City Manager John Russo’s report: He, Mayor Wagner, UCI officials and Irvine Chamber of Commerce met with American Museum of Natural History in New York (AMNH) to pitch a museum at the Great Park. The pitch was successful to the extent that the AMNH hired consultants to conduct a feasibility study for a AMNH museum satellite at the O.C. Great Park. The feasibility study is to be completed by June 2019. Thank you for all your support!!!

DID YOU KNOW? Artifacts recovered from sites within Orange County include the Eocene period 40 million years ago. There are significant fossils that include primitive relatives of rhinos, early camels, horses, primates, and crocodiles. In addition, the Pleistocene deposits include mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats and much more!!

DID YOU KNOW? The depository, where the fossils are now kept, is home to a world-class collection of marine fossils from the Miocene period, 20-5 million years ago. There are new species of whales, dolphins, walruses, sea lions and sea cows, as well as many sharks, birds, fish, sea turtles and a wide variety of invertebrates and microfossils.

DID YOU KNOW? The rocks and paleontological treasures of Orange County contain the fossilized remains of plants, animals and microorganisms from every major time period since the Jurassic over 180 million years of prehistory!

This is just a sample of the many treasures the Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center has to offer the Orange Country Cultural and Natural History Museum if it were built in Irvine, CA. The public would finally have access to exciting artifacts and fossils like this!

DID YOU KNOW? Archaeology and Paleontology are 2 very different disciplines, but share the same goal to investigate the history of life. Archaeology is the study of past human cultures, while paleontology is the study of the history of life on earth exclusive of Homo sapiens. The artifacts collection for this proposed museum chronicle the history of life in today’s Orange County ...from 10,000 to 50 years. The artifacts comprise the most extensive collection of Orange County history and prehistory anywhere. Some of the artifacts recovered from OC sites include: cogstones, metates and manos, mortars and pestles, shell beads and ornaments, incised stone, shell midden, fishhooks, bone tools, and much more!

The value of museums for children....6,000 children take advantage of free admission to museums during the teacher's strike

If you love Archaeology, Anthropology, Paleontology, Native American culture and history please like our FB page and encourage your science-loving friends to do the same! Let's get a Cultural and Natural History Museum in Orange County to showcase the numerous artifacts and fossils that have been collected in the area over the decades.