OCEANSIDE - After three years of fundraising, the Oceanside Museum of Art has the $5.35 million it needs to complete an ambitious expansion it began in the fall, officials said last week.

Museum officials said they are now turning their attention to raising a $2.5 million endowment to help pay for programs and exhibits now offered at the museum in downtown Oceanside, near the Civic Center.

"We are on the cusp of a great moment," said Skip Pahl, the executive director of the museum, from his office Thursday.

While Pahl spoke about the museum's bright future, crews outside were pouring cement on the ground floor of a two-story building that will connect to the current facility when finished in January.

The 16,000-square-foot building will increase the museum's number of galleries from one to three, create a plaza area for social events and fundraisers, and add meeting and storage space.

The additional galleries will allow the museum to always have an exhibit on display for visitors. With only one gallery, there are weeks with no exhibits on display while the museum sets up and takes down exhibits.

There is currently no exhibit on display because the museum is setting up one featuring the work of four San Diego sculptors. The exhibit will open April 21 and include the works of Kenneth Capps, Jesus Y. Dominguez, Tom Driscoll, and James Skalman.

Pahl said that with the additional galleries, exhibits will stay on display longer and there will be at least two exhibits open most of the time.

He said the second phase of the expansion will include construction of an auditorium, offices and classrooms in the fire station next to the museum. The work on the second phase will begin after the city builds a downtown fire station in the next couple of years and leaves the historical building for the museum.

The expansion will bump the museum from 5,000 square feet to 32,000 square feet. Pahl said the museum also plans to increase the number of full-time employees from four to 11 so that it can expand classes, special events and exhibits offered.

To prepare for the addition of employees, the museum has launched the $2.5 million endowment campaign that it wants to reach by summer 2009. Interest earned from the endowment each year would go toward operating the museum, which currently has a $650,000 annual budget.

A $2.5 million endowment would generate $125,000 a year with a 5 percent return on the investment, officials said.

"That will provide real stability for the museum," said Pahl, who noted that the nonprofit organization has never lost money in its 12-year history. "We really want to thank everyone seven times over for their gifts, and this has only been possible because of the many generous people in the community."

Benefit for Oceanside

Pahl and museum leaders said they were grateful that the city contributed $1 million in 2005 toward the expansion of the museum.

Councilman Rocky Chavez, the council's liaison to the art commission, said last week that he is pleased the museum has raised the money it needs to upgrade the facilities.

"The museum of art is a regional asset located in Oceanside," Chavez said.

About 52,000 people visited the museum last year, and Pahl estimated that 40 percent came from outside of North County.

The museum provides an alternative for North County residents who don't wish to drive down to San Diego to see art, said Susan Pollack, public art consultant for Escondido.

"It's a very professional museum and can hold its own with all others," said Pollack, who noted that residents also may visit the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, and a satellite location of the Mingei International Museum, in the city.

Pollack added, "It's really impressive what they have done in Oceanside."

The Oceanside museum, which is open every day but Monday and has a $5 entrance fee for adults, has about 1,400 members, Pahl said.

He said the museum's success in raising money shows that members and residents have been interested in the diverse exhibits ranging from painting and sculptor to quilting and woodwork.

"It's been a real lively mix," Pahl said. "The museum's programs in the past have been on target."

He said the success of the museum also indicated that the "area is really thirsty for visual arts programming."

John McDonald, chairman of the city's arts commission, said that the museum has really set the tone in Oceanside for an increase in public art.

"It establishes credibility for the city in the arts," McDonald said.

Carolyn Mickelson, who is on the arts commission and a museum trustee, said the museum has "become an anchor for cultural arts" and "a magnet for people interested in art."

She and other museum officials said the expansion will allow them to provide more art programs for children and families.

With more space comes more responsibility, said Irv Simpson, a museum trustee who is heading the endowment campaign.

"It's challenging because we need to extend our mission," Simpson said. "We want to be an even more important part of the community."

- Contact staff writer David Sterrett at (760) 901-4067 or dsterrett@nctimes.com.