Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
From museum administrators to politicians and community organizers, the theme of the day was relief, but the rejoicing was tinged with apprehension about the future.
"Obviously, everybody at the museum is pleased. The jobs of close to 60 people are secure for the time being," the museum's executive director, Connie Gendron, said. "We were lucky this time, but the discussion last night points to the vulnerability of museums, both here in Martinsville and across the state."
The 13-6 vote by the Governor's Blue Ribbon Strike Force came near the end of a marathon session that included considerable debate about cultural organizations. In addition to maintaining public funds for the natural history museum, the commission voted to eliminate a proposal to cut funding for museums and cultural attractions not owned by the state.
However, the strike force also urged the natural history museum to boost its fund-raising efforts and called on the secretary of education to conduct audits of cultural attractions not owned by the state and develop criteria for funding museums in the future.
"The message sent home last night is, you guys need to raise more money from the private sector," said Durwood Usry, the museum foundation's president.
The Martinsville-based natural history museum first came under the scrutiny of the governor's commission in early September, when the group included a recommendation to privatize the museum on its list of 360 possible cost-cutting measures. Outraged citizens crammed public hearings and gathered 4,000 signatures supporting the museum's public funding.
Community leaders were quick to recognize the impact of that involvement Wednesday.
"The public support was a key reason - the reason - why the strike force took a different position," said Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville, who had opposed the plan to revoke state funding. "I don't think they had any idea that there was such a significant groundswell of support in Martinsville and Henry County."
Usry said, "The outcry at the Roanoke public hearing was heard loud and clear by the commission," but last night's discussion suggested another problem.
The Virginia Museum of Natural History is one of several state-funded museums. It would have been difficult to eliminate funding for it but not the others, Usry said.
Calling the pro-museum commission members "culturally inspired," Usry said, "They understood that preserving our state culture, whether through science or art, plays into the educational process."
For those who opposed the museum's state funding, the issue was primarily economic. Commission member Robert Lee argued that the natural history museum had failed to generate enough private donations, and the number of people it attracted was lower than other at museums.
"It just wasn't doing as well as the others," he said, "and it didn't seem to have sufficient motivation to do better. I was disappointed by the vote. I think it was decided as a regional issue."
The commission's decision Tuesday lays the museum's fate to rest as far as the strike force is concerned, Lee said, but at least one question remains: Will the museum stay in Martinsville?
The strike force, which had considered proposals to move the museum, made no recommendations Tuesday concerning relocation.
"We felt that Martinsville should have the first shot at it in the private realm," Lee said.
But museum officials have long maintained that the museum is too cramped and needs to expand. If a request for construction funding goes before the General Assembly, proposals to move the museum elsewhere could resurface.
"The issue of the museum's location only comes into play now when we think of it in terms of whether the legislature will fund a new facility," explained Seward Anderson, chairman of the museum's board of trustees and mayor of Danville, which had expressed an interest in being the site of an expanded museum. "Some members of the board believe that a $16million investment by the legislature may not carry enough votes if the museum were to remain in a smaller community, such as Martinsville."
Jean Adams, who helped mobilize Martinsville support for the museum, said the community is prepared to face the relocation hurdle. "We've got to show that it would be good for the expanded museum to be here, and that we've done so well because it has been here," she said.
The only other recommendation the strike force made regarding the natural history museum is that it come under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Education, rather than the Department of Natural Resources, as it is now.
"I think that move is logical," museum director Gendron said, explaining that all other state museums are monitored by the Department of Education.
The strike force can only make recommendations to Gov. George Allen, who will make the ultimate decision on the fate of the museum's state-agency status. But the governor is unlikely to resurrect the controversy.
"Anything is possible, but Governor Allen already has so much on his plate," Usry said. "He has his own agenda, plus what the legislature passes along to him and the recommendations of the strike force. I think he'll deal simply with what's put on the table."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.