Longmont museum board hears expansion, exhibit and budget updates; pursues council resolution for 2026 funding

The Longmont Museum Advisory Board heard a progress update on the museum’s planned expansion, exhibition schedule and budget pressures and agreed to seek a council resolution to support a larger 2026 budget request, board members said at a recent meeting.

The museum’s director told the board that the project team has submitted a building permit application and expects to return to the City design review committee on Dec. 27. “We have submitted for a building permit for the team expansion,” the museum director said, and staff reported that city building officials (identified in the meeting as Ozzie and Terrence) have been involved in reviews to reduce surprises at permitting.

The update underscored several planning-stage conditions the project must meet. City design-review feedback includes a requirement that facades facing public streets include windows; the museum said it will have to redesign a proposed workshop/storage area to meet that rule. Civil engineering work on storm drainage is described as active and closely coordinated with the city planner, and the director said courtyard lighting adjustments were requested but otherwise the building-permit review has been straightforward to date.

Board members also reviewed exhibit programming and finances. The headline exhibition is scheduled to open Jan. 31, 2025, and run through May 4, 2025. Staff described changes to event hospitality and a move away from a large buffet toward a reservation-based, for-purchase approach to reduce costs. Staff said traveling exhibits have become substantially more expensive since the pandemic, and estimated typical exhibit fees now run in the $50,000–$75,000 range for larger shows.

The board was told the museum’s 2025 budget increase request was not funded by the city. The director urged stronger advocacy for the 2026 budget cycle and asked the advisory board to prepare a resolution for City Council before the council’s February retreat so the issue is raised early in council goal-setting. Board members and staff discussed drafting the resolution and agreed staff could help wordsmith it; the board asked for a working committee to prepare a draft.

Several funding items were reported: staff said a $60,000 planning grant application was submitted to the National Institutes of Health to support collections planning (action would not start until 2026 if awarded); a $10,000 donation was received specifically for an Equitable Access Program to subsidize education-program admission and scholarships; and Friends of the Museum pledged a dollar-for-dollar match of donations up to $30,000 for a year-end campaign, with nearly $16,000 raised to date.

Staff noted attendance and earned-revenue trends: an education/programming series had about 1,500 visitors in November and the museum recorded nearly 11,000 visitors over 2024, and staff said revenue currently comes from exhibits, auditorium tickets, rentals and concessions. Staff also reported allocating some funds from a neighboring museum to support exhibits in 2025.

The board approved the minutes from its previous meeting by unanimous voice vote. The chair called for the vote and the board recorded the action as approved without dissent.

Looking ahead, the director said the project team expects to respond to design-review comments and to continue coordination with building inspection and civil engineering. The board will form a small committee to draft a resolution for City Council support of the museum’s 2026 funding request and plans to bring a draft before the advisory board prior to the council retreat in February.