Art Museum Part of Laguna Beach

An ominous headline: “Talks Resume for Merger of O.C. Museums” (Feb. 2). What it means is we are threatened with one more measure to dismantle Laguna and make it just another bedroom cluster.

The Laguna Art Museum would be merged with Newport’s museum, and the new conglomerate would be moved to something called the Metro Center. So one more distinctive feature of our town would disappear, one that is rooted in the history and character of Laguna.

That would be a loss to the community and to all of us.

Think what city councils elsewhere do to retain or attract a baseball team or football stadium. Laguna isn’t big enough for that, but it has been big enough to sustain its own art tradition and its own splendid museum. Let’s keep it that way.

DICK FRANK

Laguna Beach