Museum reps tour fairgrounds location

Museum reps tour fairgrounds location

The director of the funding foundation of the county museum said Monday that, if the museum board wishes to use its old location on the Hill County fairgrounds, a proposal would need to be made to the fair board.

"But I am not sure, even, at this point, if it is something we would be interested in or what we would be interested in using it for," Elaine Morse, chair of the foundation board, said during the monthly museum board meeting.

The board of the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum has been discussing moving the museum from the space it leases in the Holiday Village Mall to the building where the museum had been housed on the Great Northern Fairgrounds until the mid-1990s.

The museum then moved to the old federal courthouse and post office until it was moved to the mall in 2004.

The board, with some members opposing the idea, has discussed moving back to the county-owned building on the Great Northern Fairgrounds in an effort to reduce expenses and increase growth in its endowment.

Morse said she hopes the museum board could use the building at a low cost.

"It really is our building, we were hoping to basically get it for nothing," she said. "I'm sure (the fair board) would like to see some rent or something paid for it."

Museum board Vice Chair Judi Dritshulas, who chaired the meeting for Chair Bud Baldwin, who could not attend the meeting, said several members of the joint building planning committee toured the facility several weeks ago along with fairgrounds manager Tim Solomon.

"Of course it was cold and the lights weren't working well, but it gave us a first-hand experience looking at the building," she said.

Dritshulas added that no action has been taken on the question of moving the museum to the fairgrounds.

Morse said she believes the museum board might be able to have success in discussing the move with the fair board. That board has been unsuccessfully trying to rent or get other use out of the building, she said.

"It is not a building that is appealing to a wide variety of sources," she said, agreeing that part of the reason for that may be due to the lack of indoor plumbing and windows in the building.

The director of the funding foundation of the county museum said Monday that, if the museum board wishes to use its old location on the Hill County fairgrounds, a proposal would need to be made to the fair board.

"But I am not sure, even, at this point, if it is something we would be interested in or what we would be interested in using it for," Elaine Morse, chair of the foundation board, said during the monthly museum board meeting.

The board of the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum has been discussing moving the museum from the space it leases in the Holiday Village Mall to the building where the museum had been housed on the Great Northern Fairgrounds until the mid-1990s.

The museum then moved to the old federal courthouse and post office until it was moved to the mall in 2004.

The board, with some members opposing the idea, has discussed moving back to the county-owned building on the Great Northern Fairgrounds in an effort to reduce expenses and increase growth in its endowment.

Morse said she hopes the museum board could use the building at a low cost.

"It really is our building, we were hoping to basically get it for nothing," she said. "I'm sure (the fair board) would like to see some rent or something paid for it."

Museum board Vice Chair Judi Dritshulas, who chaired the meeting for Chair Bud Baldwin, who could not attend the meeting, said several members of the joint building planning committee toured the facility several weeks ago along with fairgrounds manager Tim Solomon.

"Of course it was cold and the lights weren't working well, but it gave us a first-hand experience looking at the building," she said.

Dritshulas added that no action has been taken on the question of moving the museum to the fairgrounds.

Morse said she believes the museum board might be able to have success in discussing the move with the fair board. That board has been unsuccessfully trying to rent or get other use out of the building, she said.

"It is not a building that is appealing to a wide variety of sources," she said, agreeing that part of the reason for that may be due to the lack of indoor plumbing and windows in the building.