OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A planned Native American museum that has become a hulking shell along the banks of the Oklahoma River near downtown Oklahoma City received a $25 million infusion from the Legislature on Thursday, which is designed to push the decades-old project to completion.

The Senate voted 27-17 for the bond proposal that would transfer ownership of the museum and surrounding property to the city. The bill now heads to Gov. Mary Fallin, a longtime supporter of the project.

“This is a thoughtful and responsible plan that gives us a chance to end state appropriations for ongoing costs, finish the facility, and remove it from our books,” said Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa.

Meanwhile, a separate $25 million bond package to build a museum of popular culture in the Brady Arts District and an adjacent parking garage near downtown Tulsa fell seven votes short of passage in the House. House Speaker Jeffrey Hickman used a procedural maneuver that will allow the bill to be reconsidered before the Legislature adjourns.

Many who voted against the OKPOP museum cited the unfinished Native American Cultural Center and Museum as a reason the state shouldn't be in the business of building museums.

“We're running from the Indian Cultural Center,” argued Rep. David Brumbaugh, R-Broken Arrow. “We've got 25 years of a monument to government waste.”

The state already has spent more than $90 million constructing the sprawling 173,000 square-foot structure along the Oklahoma River at the intersection of Interstates 35 and 40, envisioned by state leaders more than 20 years ago as a way to diversify the state's economy after the oil bust and attract tourists.

Supporters say they have an additional $40 million in pledges to help complete the project, including $7.4 million from Oklahoma's 39 federally recognized tribes, $9 million from Oklahoma City, and the rest from private and corporate donors.

The Senate-approved bill would transfer ownership and responsibility for the Native American museum to Oklahoma City, which must agree to accept the deal by January 2016 or risk derailing the project.

A city spokesman declined to comment Thursday on the bill's passage, but City Manager Jim Couch said last week that city officials weren't involved in negotiations and that he was disappointed with the final plan.

“We were not asking for the operations of this facility,” Couch has said. “There's a lot of unanswered questions about it at this point.”

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Online:

House Bill 2237: http://bit.ly/1HhR00S

American Indian Cultural Center and Museum: http://bit.ly/1jEd6fx