The Clatsop County Historical Society has detailed plans to expand the Oregon Film Museum, an estimated $10 million project that would involve the construction of a new two-story, 13,000-square-foot building.

The addition is proposed in Astoria on the site of the former Morris Glass building, a property the historical society acquired several years ago.

Plans for the new building include a 50-seat theater, a projection room, classroom space, an expanded gift shop and several new exhibits.

Since opening in 2010, the film museum has seen a continued increase in visitors. The location at the old Clatsop County Jail saw more than 52,000 visitors last year.

“We’ve clearly outgrown and surpassed our capacity,” McAndrew Burns, the executive director of the historical society, told the Astoria City Council at a work session Monday. “We also are not able in such a small space to fulfill our educational mission.”

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Expanding coverage of movies made in Oregon

Exhibits planned for the new building would make use of movies with Oregon ties to illustrate aspects of film production, such as location scouting and set design. One interactive green screen set would allow visitors to use a map of the state to create an imagined scene.

The museum would also retain the exhibit space within the old Clatsop County Jail, which was used as a backdrop for an opening sequence in “The Goonies,” the 1985 adventure comedy filmed in Astoria and other North Coast locales.

With the expansion, museum leaders hope to offer vocational opportunities and bring in working professionals from within the film industry.

In a video presentation that featured comments from filmmakers, producers and arts leaders — including director Guillermo del Toro, who won an Academy Award for best animated feature for “Pinocchio,” a movie largely made in Portland — Burns envisioned how the new additions could inspire interest in filmmaking.

“We know the attendance is going to be there. There’s no doubt in our mind. Our mark of success is going to be when some young person is winning their Oscar for best cinematography or best costume design and they say, ‘It all began on Mrs. Johnson’s fourth grade trip to the Oregon Film Museum,’” he said.

So far, $6.1 million has been raised toward the project, which recently received a $1 million state grant recommended by the Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon.

Burns proposed a partnership with the city that would allocate $300,000 in Promote Astoria funds toward the expansion, spread out over three years.

“This would be an investment in growing that fund,” he said. “We’re projecting very conservatively that we’re going to double our three-year average in attendance.”

City has concerns about parking, use of funds

City Councilor Tom Hilton raised concerns about parking, demands on the city’s infrastructure and the need to use Promote Astoria funds for other priorities. Promote Astoria funds, which come from a share of lodging taxes, are used to help promote tourism and maintain tourism-related facilities.

“This will increase tourism, it will increase demand upon our infrastructure, which we need to work on,” Hilton said.

Burns said the museum has been in conversation with adjacent properties about parking. “We are keenly aware, and we’re trying to address it,” he said.

Burns also noted that, contrary to an image depicted in an architectural rendering for the project, the museum does not intend to ask the city to close Seventh Street to traffic.

Hilton urged the historical society to reach out to private donors — like director Steven Spielberg, who came up with the story for “The Goonies” — as well as other groups.

“It’s a great project, you bet. But there’s a lot of people out there that have money,” said Hilton. “I’ve always said this — Spielberg, if the guy’s not willing to do anything, why would we promote him?”

Astoria City Manager Scott Spence said there is a direct connection between Promote Astoria funds and a tourism facility like the film museum, but also emphasized that the request would have to be weighed against competing needs.

Mayor Sean Fitzpatrick expressed the importance of giving the project consideration.