State budget includes nearly $3 Million for Angel Island restoration

SAN FRANCISCO - The California State budget signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Monday, includes nearly $3 million to complete the restoration of the $14 million Pacific Coast Immigration Center at Angel Island State Park.

The Pacific Coast Immigration Center will feature state of the art exhibits telling the stories of Pacific Coast immigrants.

It will have interactive displays, exhibits highlighting diverse immigrant stories, and an on site cafe.

The center will be housed in the historic Public Health Service Hospital Building in the existing U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island.

"This will put immigration from the Pacific on par with the far more familiar story of immigration through Ellis Island," said Katherine Toy, President of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Board of Directors. "As Pacific immigration continues to grow, it is critical to understand and provide a forum for discussion about both its history and the issues surrounding today's immigration stories."

The center is estimated to open to the public by Fall 2017.