The Cambodian Cultural Museum in White Center may be opening in a new and improved locale in downtown Seattle.

The museum is temporarily closed due to damage from flooding that occurred last January. The museum will reopen in a new location by next year.

Museum founder Dara Duong said the Cambodian Cultural Museum is in the early stages of working with the Wing Luke Asian Museum in downtown Seattle. No date has been set, but Duong said that the museum may be moving into a permanent space "sometime in December or January next year."

"We want to keep this story alive. We want to share it with the community, with schools and children," Duong said. "The old location is not really good for us to receive students and visitors because it's not accessible from public transportation and it is close to an adult video store."

This is not the first time the museum has experienced flooding during its three years in its former location. The museum was located at a below street-level property on 16th Street, and was prone to flooding two or three times a year. The flooding threatened to permanently damage the pictures and artifacts on display in the museum.

"The site could only ever have been a temporary location, because the basement was not an appropriate location," said Matthew Steinbrueck, museum treasurer. "The flooding was a good excuse to take action and find other ways to make the museum continue."

Steinbrueck said that the museum board originally wished to stay in the White Center area, but could not garner sufficient financial support. The White Center Community Development Association offered relocation support, but Duong said they could not provide a long-term solution.

"It's a loss for White Center," said Rob Watt, community development director for the White Center Community Development Association. "The landlord was going to make him pay for the improvements. It just didn't seem right."

Duong added that the museum owners are still "very interested in working with any other local agency in White Center if they believe that this will benefit this group."

According to Duong, the museum has entered into a verbal agreement with the Wing Luke Asian Museum, and a written agreement is being reviewed. After a decision is reached, museum coordinators will work together to work out a timeline.

A spokesperson for the Wing Luke Asian Museum declined comment because "it's all in early stages and nothing has been finalized."

Until the Cambodian Cultural Museum's relocation next year, Steinbrueck said that the museum will continue to put on displays and presentations. The museum also remains involved in charity work to support a school in a rural village in Cambodia.

"I'm glad that the museum is maybe moving but it's not closed," Steinbrueck said. "It will continue to exist. It's an important collection that should be preserved and continued as a resource available to the local people here."

Kat Lewin may be reached at katl@robinsonnews.com