The Arcadia Historical Museum has been approved for a $100,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for construction of a new museum.
The preliminary design for the Arcadia Historical Museum has been approved by the city council but more money is still needed to build the museum. Fundraising will be done by the Arcadia Historical Society.
Former Mayor Charles Gilb and his wife Ruth, through their family foundation, are donating $300,000 to construct a new museum. Curator Carol Libby displays museum artifacts on the community's history in the current museum.
In additon to the $300,000 donated by Ruth and Charles Gilb, another $85,000 has been contributed from the community for the new Arcadia Historical Museum.
David Thornton, 24, who suffers from angio-dysplasia, a rare disease that affects the blood vessels, has founded the Thornton Kidney Research Foundation with the USC School of Medicine.
Former Arcadia resident David Thornton has been involved in fundraising for kidney research ever since a rare kidney disease began tormenting him five years ago.
Arcadia veteran Al Parker is a survivor of the Bataan Death March. More than 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war were herded 60 miles through Philippine jungles following Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright's April 9, 1943 surrender on the island of Corrigidor.