Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Museums And Cultural Institutions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Livingston County Historical Museum unveils expansion plan, seeks local support
Summary
The Livingston County Historical Museum described a multi-phase expansion to add climate-controlled storage, more gallery space and immersive salt-mine exhibits, and said it has secured several grants while launching a capital campaign.
Anna Kowalczyk, director of the Livingston County Historical Museum, told the Livingston County Board of Supervisors that the museum plans a multi-phase building expansion to add collection storage, climate control and new gallery space.
The proposal would keep the museum’s historic footprint intact while adding new construction to provide 1,111 square feet of storage and a dedicated collection-management area, Kowalczyk said. "We have no storage whatsoever that's proper with HVAC considerations," she said, adding the new space will allow the museum to separate staff functions from collections care.
Kowalczyk said phase 1—completed earlier—upgraded accessibility, restrooms, and parts of the HVAC and electrical systems, and the new work would expand gallery space by about 667 square feet. The design includes an accessible ramp leading to a simulated salt-mine experience and gallery circulation that ends in the gift shop area. "As you go down the ramp ... you'll have a space above ground and then ride a simulated elevator into a space below ground," she said.
Funding for the project already includes a $445,000 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, $72,000 from the New York Small Project Fund and roughly $200,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services earmarked for storage, Kowalczyk said. She added that the IMLS award had been rescinded and later reinstated; the museum has put bids out and launched a capital campaign on July 10 that had raised about $100,000 to date.
Kowalczyk said the museum plans to move some artifacts off-site while construction proceeds and that exhibits will remain open where possible. She invited supervisors to a community presentation and fundraising event scheduled for Sept. 25 and left a capital campaign brochure with county staff.
The board granted Kowalczyk privileges of the floor for the presentation; there were no formal actions by the board tied directly to the museum presentation during the meeting.
