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Trustees push for preventive maintenance plan as museum building turns 20
Summary
Trustees heard a plan to shift from reactive repairs to preventive maintenance across the museum’s 20-year-old main building and older Douglas Avenue facility, including a proposed addendum to the strategic plan and an inventory and scheduling program for equipment maintenance.
Trustee Dick Ratcher urged the board to adopt a proactive building maintenance strategy to protect the museum’s physical assets as the primary facility approaches two decades of service. Speaking from his facilities-management experience, Dick outlined three near-term steps: build a core inventory of equipment and fixtures, set maintenance schedules and responsibilities, and evaluate tools to manage preventive maintenance workflows.
Why it matters: The board said preventive maintenance will reduce long-term costs, preserve collections, and support program delivery. Trustees noted the museum operates multiple facilities—Starling Avenue (90,000 sq ft), Douglas Avenue (reportedly 35,000 sq ft), and the Waysboro campus coming online—creating both immediate maintenance needs and future capital planning questions.
Implementation and timing: Facilities staff (Tim King and Joel Clifton) have begun inventory work; trustees intend to add a building-maintenance addendum to the museum’s strategic plan at next year’s retreat (May 2028). The board thanked facilities staff for current work but stressed that a documented preventive-maintenance program would allow better forecasting of future capital needs and more efficient operations.
Next steps: Trustees directed staff to continue the inventory and to return with recommended maintenance schedules, assigned responsibilities and possible software/tools to track preventive tasks.
