Dayton Society of Natural History outlines SunWatch updates, NAGPRA consultations and museum renovation plan

Tracy Tomy, president and CEO of the Dayton Society of Natural History, told the Dayton City Commission on Jan. 22 that the museum has launched a multi‑million dollar renovation and is conducting consultations with tribes under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Tomy said the museum — which opened with the library in 1893 — has 1.8 million objects in its collections and is starting a $10.5 million project to renovate its first floor and parts of the second floor focused on Dayton’s water and rivers. "It is definitely time," she told commissioners.

Nut graf: The updates cover both the museum building and SunWatch Indian Village, a city property adjacent to the museum. Museum leaders said recent grant funding has supported accessibility work at SunWatch and will fund tribe consultations that could affect future handling and disposition of artifacts from earlier excavations.

Tomy described roughly $1 million in recent work at SunWatch that included updated ADA accessibility, renovated restrooms, a rebuilt front parking lot and improved lighting. She said the project also added push‑button door openers, replaced a path through the village to make it "very rollable and accessible," and replaced a heating, ventilation and air‑conditioning unit that was not covered by prior city funding. "We added entrance buttons to the front doors for accessibility and we replaced the path through the village," Tomy said.

Tomy said the museum has a one‑year, $100,000 grant from the National Park Service to support NAGPRA consultation and repatriation work. She told commissioners the museum contacted 65 tribes it believes may have cultural affiliation with Ohio material; 30 tribes have asked to participate and the first invitation‑only consultation meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29. She said SunWatch and Wagner (Wagerson) Gardens both contain materials recovered in the 1970s and 1980s and that repatriation work will include city property inside the SunWatch Village.

Tomy acknowledged the museum did not consistently provide its annual lease report to the city and said staff will improve that reporting. She thanked the city for prior HVAC and other support and asked commissioners to let museum staff know if they should expand consultation invitations.

Commissioners thanked Tomy for the update and offered support. Commissioner Tesslaus said the commission expects either an annual report or a return visit; Commissioner Fairchild praised the stewardship of the sites. Several commissioners volunteered the commission’s help with consultation or technical questions.

Ending: Tomy asked commissioners to refer potential tribal participants to museum staff and said she would continue coordinating with city water staff and other partners on public programming. "If you feel like someone in this group needs to be invited, please let us know," she said.