Cartoon museum may become bookstore: File this under "Links That Got Away." South Florida's Sun-Sentinel (registration required) reports on the ongoing efforts by Boca Raton to do something with the old International Museum of Cartoon Art. Last week, the Community Redevelopment Agency finally agreed to start negotations with The Rouse Co., whose proposal includes turning part of the 50,000-square-foot building into a bookstore.

"Mort Walker, cartoon museum founder and creator of the Beetle Bailey comic strip, was glad to see the city choose a developer. City officials have considered several proposals in the past three years. While Walker owns the building, the city owns the land and has a say in how it is developed.

"The cartoon museum closed in 2001 because of dwindling attendance and mounting debt.

"'I feel like I've been in a torture chamber,' Walker said minutes after the meeting."

(Link via Richard Pachter)