"It just makes a lot of sense to fuse the two together," Mayor Casey McKeon said in March, when the City Council agreed to move the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum into the Main Street Branch Library. In the same meeting, he said the city wanted the artifacts installed in time for the US Open of Surfing that summer.
The museum made that deadline. It held its grand opening at 525 Main St. on Friday, July 24, 2026. About ten weeks later, on Sept. 30, the city gave that stretch of Main Street a new label. With the library, the surf museum and the Huntington Beach Art Center now sharing one block, the city has officially named the fifth block of Main Street a cultural hub. The hub exists because the museum's old building was too short.
A Ceiling Problem on Olive Avenue
The museum had been on Olive Avenue since 1990. Natalie Kotsch founded it in 1987. She was a Canadian transplant who came to love surf culture after moving to Huntington Beach, and she wanted a place to share its art and memorabilia.
By the 2020s, the collection no longer fit the building. A city staff report found that the Olive Avenue site's modest size and low ceilings made it hard to display the larger and more significant boards, some dating to the 1930s. It also found that a collection of historic documents, publications and surf culture artifacts was off-limits to the public for lack of space. The museum had looked for a bigger home before. A 2002 plan to raise $6 million for a 20,000-square-foot building along Pacific Coast Highway never came together.
The library had the one feature the old building lacked. The Main Street branch has 20-foot walls, tall enough to mount more of the vintage surfboard collection, and it had underused floor space. Under the license agreement the council approved, the 9,475-square-foot building is divided this way:
- About 3,600 square feet shared by the museum and the library
- About 1,200 square feet for the museum's storage, research library, gift shop and office
- About 4,000 square feet kept for the library's exclusive use
- $500 a month in base rent from the museum, with a 60-day termination notice available to the city
The city had started exploring the merger the previous July. Officials said it could create a "cohesive cultural district" on Main Street. The district idea came out of the museum's need for space.
What the Taller Walls Hold
The museum's current site names its featured exhibition "World Surfing League: 50 Years of Professional Surfing." It covers five decades of pro surfing through championship memorabilia, boards, photographs and stories. The tall walls are what make room for the opening-week sights the OC Register described: vintage wooden boards standing upright, a Silver Surfer statue, surf art, and a display on local lifeguarding.
The man running it fits the exhibit's subject. Executive director Peter "PT" Townend is identified by the city as the first-ever World Professional Surfing Champion.
Admission is by donation, according to CBS Los Angeles's coverage of the opening. The museum charged $5 at its old location and switched to donations after the pandemic, and CBS reported that revenue has since grown fourfold. The museum's own visitor page lists hours but no admission price.
One Block, One Schedule
The Huntington Beach Art Center is across Main Street from the library. Its exhibitions are free. Line up the two posted schedules and the block's usable hours come into focus.
| Day | Surf museum | Art Center | Both open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 9 a.m.–6 p.m. | Noon–8 p.m. | Noon–6 p.m. |
| Wednesday–Thursday | 9 a.m.–6 p.m. | Noon–6 p.m. | Noon–6 p.m. |
| Friday–Saturday | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Noon–5 p.m. | Noon–5 p.m. |
| Sunday–Monday | Not listed | Closed | Neither |
The hub keeps a different clock from the pier and the beach path a few blocks away. Seeing both venues in one visit means coming Tuesday through Saturday afternoon, starting at noon. Mornings belong to the museum alone. Tuesday evenings belong to the Art Center, which stays open until 8 p.m. On Sundays the Art Center is closed, and the museum's posted hours don't include Sunday either.
Parking for the block is the 830-space Main Promenade Parking Structure at 200 Main St., on the east side of Main between Walnut and Olive streets. From there, the walk runs up Main Street, away from the water.
Sept. 30 Made It Official
The city chose the library's 75th birthday to launch the hub. The event ran from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Triangle Park, 521 Main St. Seventy-five years earlier to the day, on Sept. 30, 1951, Mayor Vernon Langenbeck dedicated the Main Street building. It cost $140,000 and served as the city's main library until the Central Library was completed in April 1975.
The Daily Pilot's account of the afternoon reads like a list of the block's new tenants and neighbors. A 1947 Ford "Woody" was parked in front of the surf museum. Muralist Melissa Murphy painted a wave canvas in the park. The Ramsey Brothers Band played, and local business Two Birds Baking Company supplied the birthday cake and cupcakes. Townend spoke, McKeon and Mayor Pro Tem Butch Twining cut the ribbon, and a plaque marking the library's 75th anniversary was unveiled.
Marisa Rodriguez, the city's library and cultural services manager, described what links the three venues:
"The library, the art center and the surf museum each serve the community differently, but there's a connection among them. There's stories, art, history, culture and community identity. The cultural hub gives people an opportunity to experience those resources together, rather than as separate destinations."
What Is Still Being Decided
Two parts of the hub are still unsettled. The first is an Art Center advisory committee. Last month the City Council voted 5-2 to have the city manager bring back a resolution creating a committee of seven to nine residents. The committee would help schedule events, curate exhibitions with local and national artists, and coordinate programming with the surf museum. The resolution was set for the council's regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, so as of this writing it has not been approved. McKeon has said the goal is for Huntington Beach to compete with the art festivals in Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach.
The second is the event calendar. Dan Faltz, the city's senior cultural arts supervisor, said quarterly events are planned for the area and that he looks forward to more block parties. No dates have been announced.
The Dates Already on the Block's Calendar
These are the dated events on the fifth block between now and the end of the year:
- Tuesday, Oct. 20: The library calendar lists a tour of the Art Center's "VAALA Presents: Make it Home," followed by art-making with Art Center and library staff. The listing says "In-Person" but also includes an online registration note, so check the format before you go.
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Last day for both current Art Center shows, "Make it Home" in Gallery 4 and "California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber" in Galleries 1 through 3.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: "Inspired," an Artist Council exhibition, opens with a reception and runs through Dec. 19.
- Thursday, Dec. 3: Art For Lunch at the Art Center, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Between Oct. 24 and Nov. 14 the Art Center has no exhibition listed. During those three weeks, the surf museum's pro-surfing show is the block's only scheduled exhibit.
The fifth block of Main Street changed this year, and a neighborhood's cultural anchors are part of what a home near them is worth. If you live near downtown and want to know how that plays into your home's value today, The Elmer Team can take you through the local numbers. Get your instant home valuation to start.
