Historical society seeks funds for Old Idaho Penitentiary staffing and consolidation; displays USS Idaho artifacts for committee

The Idaho State Historical Society presented its FY26 budget requests to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, seeking staff for the Old Idaho Penitentiary, funds to support a multi-year consolidation of off-site collections into the State Archives, and re-appropriation authority for America250 commemoration activities. The agency also brought two historic USS Idaho silver pieces to the hearing and explained plans to curate and preserve materials tied to the Navy vessel program.

Why it matters: The society is responsible for stewardship of state records, artifacts and historic sites; requests for staffing, moving and capital outlays affect public access, conservation and long-term costs. Committee members asked for fundraising results and data on earned-income and student-visit targets tied to staffing enhancements.

The nut graf: Agency leaders said they mix general-fund support with nonstate revenue and fundraising, and that some line items are spending-authority requests tied to donations and grant awards; lawmakers asked for follow-up on the success of previous fundraising and on metrics for the Old Pen’s education and revenue goals.

Budget items and staffing Analyst Brooke Dupree outlined FY26 requests including ongoing and one-time spending for additional staff at the Old Idaho Penitentiary funded from the site’s miscellaneous revenue fund and a request for an archivist technician to digitize records. The society requested $450,000 one-time in FY26 (part of a multi-year plan) to cover moving costs as the agency consolidates three off-site storage facilities into the State Archives building.

Director Janet Gallimore said the Old Pen’s business plan recommended added positions to expand educational programming and earned income. “Our goal was to go from 6,000 students to 12,000,” she told the committee, explaining the additional educator and store manager positions are aimed at boosting educational visits and retail revenue. Gallimore said the Old Pen “operates probably 90% on earned income,” making investments in staffing intended to increase capacity to generate revenue.

Fundraising and spending authority Committee members asked how much fundraising produced by a 2024 fundraising initiative resulted in spendable receipts. Director Gallimore explained that the appropriation included spending authority to enable the agency to accept and spend donations and grant awards; she said the society typically raises roughly a quarter-million dollars per year for ongoing education grants and has active campaign efforts for specific projects (for example, a $2 million campaign for the Old Pen). She said about $1.4 million of an America250 appropriation is already obligated against specific projects and partnerships.

Collections move and access The society described its plan to consolidate collections for preservation and efficiency: move about 30,000 boxes of government records and roughly 50,000 artifacts from three off-site storage locations into an expanded archives facility. Gallimore said the move will be staged, beginning with three-dimensional collections and later the archival material, and she estimated moving would span two fiscal years and take approximately 10 months once executed.

Public access and exhibits Gallimore summarized outreach and partnership work, including a task force and advisory council for America250 activities and a partnership that helped produce a public-television documentary about Idaho’s role in the U.S. nuclear navy. For the hearing, the society presented artifacts tied to ships named USS Idaho and described plans to curate new artifacts that will travel on the submarine SSN 799 and later return to Idaho for long-term care.

Lawmakers’ follow-up requests Lawmakers requested: (1) detailed fundraising figures and fund balances for the periods associated with prior appropriations; (2) education and earned-income performance data to justify new Old Pen positions (the agency stated the goal to double student visits); and (3) a more detailed schedule and cost estimate for the collections consolidation.

Ending The society committed to provide additional data on fundraising results, earned-income and student-visit metrics, and a more detailed plan and budget for the archive consolidation and moving costs. The committee was invited to inspect the artifacts after the hearing.