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coming to oil exhibit Filed: 09/22/2000 By PHIL RYALL Within the 16 acres of the main Kern County Museum Educational Facility on North Chester Avenue is a newly developing "Petroleum Park," which will be a modernized and expanded version of the petroleum exhibit, started by the Petroleum Production Pioneers and other oil representatives back in 1960. It will include an indoor theater and interactive exhibits of local oil-field history in the 8,000 square-foot building given to the museum by the Petroleum Pioneers in 1988. The exhibit at that time was dedicated to George Suman, the principal founder of the collection at Bakersfield, and is situated just north of the Pioneer Village Exhibit. Also planned is an outdoor oil city exhibit on the 2.5-acre plot, showing a progression of life and technology in the oil fields through time. This will be done by renovating outdoor artifacts already in place, along with some new exhibits such as a mini refinery contributed by Texaco (now Equilon) Refinery. Since September 1995, a group of oil industry professionals — the Oil Advisory Committee — has been meeting with the Kern County Museum staff, led by Carola Rupert Enriquez to develop a vision for enhancing the oil exhibit began by the Petroleum Production Pioneers, among others. In July 1996, representatives of the Museum Arts Consultants visited the facility. There is now a contract for the consultants to design the new exhibit. The project for the indoor exhibit will go out to bid, probably this October, and construction could begin in early 2001. Charles Paramour, the artistic genius behind Museum Arts, says the project could be completed within 18 months. The Oil Advisory Committee plans to get the outdoor exhibits finished by the same time. Paramour is now doing some planning on the whole museum facility. Fund raising for the oil exhibit has been going on for several years, and has raised almost $300,000 from private and industry sources. The six largest contributors have been Patricia A. Brown Fund, funded by the sale of some Victory Oil Co. properties; Western States Petroleum Association, Mid-State Laboratories, Texaco USA, Bob and Tanis Shore Fund and the Shell Foundation. The exhibit got a big boost in funds with the passage of Proposition 12 (Parks and Recreation) in March. The oil exhibit was funded for $3.5 million. A third phase of fund raising has begun for an additional roughly $5 million from industry and private sources, with the help of Charles Bentz Associates. Additional funds will be partly for updating and renovating some other general features of the museum, including a more distinctive entrance. Phil Ryall is a consultant in the oil and gas industry.
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