Santa Cruz may or may not be "surf city" to you (for some, Huntington Beach owns the distinction) but it still holds a special place in surfing's history. Like many other cities around the country, Santa Cruz is having some financial issues (to the tune of a $7 million deficit) and last December the city council voted to close several of the city's public institutions, including the Natural History Museum and the Surfing Museum that opened more than 20 years ago.
The surfing community didn't like the sound of that and rallied around the museum. Its budget is only $20K a year (to pay two part-time employees) and by raising $10K, the museum would stay open through the end of the fiscal year (June 31).
The move was successful and almost all of the money has been raised, promting the city council to put on hold (for now) the plan to close all of the other services also until at least the end of the fiscal year.
So if you want to visit the museum (admission is free, after all) try and plan your trip for the next five months... Read more about the situation here.
