Museum Told to Leave its Cliff House Location

By Meg Dixit

Laughing Sal has made San Francisco residents smile for 60 years, but she will only continue the task for about six more months before the nostalgic landmark and 160 of her antique friends at Musee Mechanique are evicted from the Cliff House.

The Musee Mechanique, one of the largest privately held collections of antique coin-operated mechanical and musical instruments, will be shut down in September.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), which owns the land the museum sits on, had plans to build a new site for the museum, along with a visitor's center and a restaurant at the Merry Way parking lot behind Louie's restaurant, while the Cliff House was renovated to restore its 1909 appearance and the restaurant was expanded. Plans changed due to a lack of funding and a new building will not be built right away, but the Cliff House renovations will still go forward.

"I heard about this about two weeks ago (early February) and was very discouraged because many people love the place," said museum owner Edward Zellinsky.

Zellinsky had been in negotiations for about five years with the GGNRA, which planned a smooth transition for the museum from its present location to the new visitor's center. But with the change in plans, there is no temporary location for the museum.

"We are desperately seeking a home for the collections. They are fragile and can't be moved here and there," said Zellinsky, adding that if a sufficient roof cannot be found for the antiques, he may have to auction them off.

"We don't know how long it will be before a new building comes into existence," Zellinsky said.

Rich Weideman, GGNRA's chief of public affairs, said they are currently undertaking a feasibility study to determine the cost of the new building.

"We don't know how long the study will take and after it is completed, we will have specifics about the new building, its cost, as well as possibly making plans for temporary housing for the museum," he said.

Dan Zellinsky, Edward's son who runs the museum, said visitors are very upset about the planned closure.

"We have patrons who have been coming here since they were 8 or 10 years old, and are now bringing in their kids. They ask me why and offer support."

Edward has been collecting the antiques since he was 11 years old. Trips to Europe to search for more unique coin-operated instruments added to the museum's collection. But treats like "The Mighty Wurlitzer," a 1923 Orchestrion, and the Camera Obscura, the 50-year-old giant camera that overlooks Seal Rock, are the landmarks that make this museum a wonder in San Francisco.

"To lose it is to lose a special place in San Francisco," said patron Carolyn Gates, who has been visiting the museum since her childhood. "It's free, you spend a few quarters and see all kinds of memorabilia. It's magic."