Museum manager urges council to adopt collection policy, prioritize archives facility upgrades

Gabe, the city’s museum manager, told the council the museum’s archives are at increasing risk because of building issues and mixed use of the Second Floor of the Welcome Center. He asked the council to review a drafted collection management policy, approve steps to deaccession non‑contributing items under an appropriate process, and support plans for improved archival storage.

Gabe explained that the archive’s physical environment — light exposure from balcony doors, humidity fluctuations, airborne particulates from nearby traffic, pests and off‑gassing building materials — is damaging objects and paper collections. “The goal is to preserve, manage, and then make accessible,” Gabe said, describing the standard the archives are trying to meet and why better vault‑style storage and environmental controls matter. He showed data showing elevated light levels at west‑facing shutters and humidity readings that exceed archival recommendations for months at a time; he noted the dehumidifier can fail and the building envelope allows infiltration of contaminants.

Gabe asked the council to review the draft collection policy and to consider reactivating or revitalizing the museum advisory board to oversee deaccessioning procedures and collection decisions. He proposed presenting a deaccession list to council for approval in the near term and said a future agenda item will request council direction on a new facility or modular storage options to protect large objects now kept on Pecan Avenue.

Staff also noted that an envelope project for the Welcome Center is on the list of planned improvements; that work would help address infiltration that contributes to archival humidity and air‑quality problems.

Council took no final vote but asked staff to circulate the collection policy, recruit appropriate advisory board members, and return with a timeline and options for archive storage improvements and the deaccessioning process.