Bell County Museum reports higher visitation, new archives; commissioners approve trustee appointments

Paul Clement, presenting the Bell County Museum’s FY2024 annual report to the Bell County Commissioners Court on Sept. 9, said recorded visitation rose to 15,731 and highlighted the museum’s new Museum Archives Building, which Clement described as “a state of the art facility” with temperature and humidity control and a curator’s workshop.

Clement told the court the archives building will help preserve county artifacts “that might otherwise go into decay or be destroyed,” and credited county facilities staff and volunteers for assisting with the move of thousands of objects. He said the museum hosted six temporary or traveling exhibits during the year and identified the Vietnam experience — art and artifacts on loan from the Naval History and Heritage Command — as among the most highly attended exhibits. “We have a lot of veterans, and active military families coming specifically to see that event,” Clement said.

The presentation listed education and outreach numbers: 27 school tours serving a little over 2,200 students, a bus-grant program that reimburses $50 per school bus to reduce costs for school tours, a traveling-trunk program for classroom lessons, and a spring lecture series. Clement said many family and community programs are free or low-cost; he estimated Night at the Museum typically draws more than 2,000 attendees and said it is held the Thursday before Halloween. Clement also summarized fundraising: the annual gala netted almost $19,000 and the museum’s gift shop brought in a gross of $15,600 during the year.

After the report, the court considered appointments to the Bell County Museum Board of Trustees. Commissioners approved appointments for John Francis (first three-year term, Belton) and reappointments or continued terms for Lita Gersbach, Linda Seawood (Salado), Larry Neal (Temple) and Bill Kennison (Salado). Commissioner Woodson moved the appointments and Commissioner Schuman seconded; the court voted in favor by voice vote.

The presentation concluded with Clement thanking the museum’s board, staff (including Michaela Young, curator of collections; Katie Ricketts, education coordinator; and Stephen Reis, office manager) and volunteers for their work. He said curatorial staff are preparing exhibits for 2025 to mark county and Carnegie Library anniversaries and offered to provide commissioners with exhibit-specific visitor statistics on request.

The court did not take further action on the museum report beyond the trustee appointments.