
DATE: Wednesday, July 16, 1997              TAG: 9707160478

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   99 lines

CONSULTANT HIRED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ALBEMARLE MUSEUM SALES STRATEGY TO FOCUS ON AREA'S HISTORY, POTENTIAL BUSINESS GROWTH

After raising just $250,000 in the past nine years, Museum of the Albemarle officials have hired a specialist with a long record of collecting millions for organizations needing capital.

``What we have done is small-time compared to this,'' said Bob Carson, chairman of the Museum of the Albemarle Inc., a group of citizens who support museum projects. ``You can't cook enough barbecue chicken to build a museum.''

Winslow-Considine Inc. of Winston-Salem has nearly finished its survey of about 60 civic and government leaders to see whether $1.1 million can be raised locally in three years.

The results of the two-month-long survey will be announced July 28 and may determine when, or if, the state will finance construction of an $8.5 million, 50,000-square-foot museum.

``We're hopeful the study will be positive,'' Carson said. ``But we don't want to be too confident. It's good to have some butterflies before you go on stage.''

``The process is going very well,'' said David Winslow of Winslow-Considine.

The museum is a renovated version of an old highway patrol station. Its 7,100 square-feet is packed to the ceiling in artifacts, with some larger antiques, such as a 100-year-old farm wagon, literally left out in the cold. Museum officials have dreamed of a new building for at least 10 years.

``It's terrible we're charged to house the things we are,'' said Rhonda Tyson, executive director of the Museum of the Albemarle since November 1996.

The state bought property near the Elizabeth City waterfront three years ago, and plans were drawn last year for a new facility. The principals of the museum want badly to start building next year. A framed color drawing and architectural plans of the new museum hang prominently in the lobby. Another drawing sits on an easel in Tyson's office.

The legislature is likely to pass a budget this year that includes another $1 million for the new museum. With $2 million invested so far, Carson believes the state will see it through soon.

``If it's delayed, then the price is going to rise,'' Carson said.

If the study proves successful, then museum officials, with Winslow's guidance, will begin asking for pledges.

``Influence and affluence are the two main points,'' Tyson said of the fund-raising targets.

Private money paid for Winslow's services. Tyson declined to give the price tag, but she said he is well worth the money.

Winslow and his company helped Museum of the Cape Fear in Fayetteville raise $1.8 million from 1993 to 1996. The goal was $1.1 million, the same as Museum of the Albemarle.

``It was a pleasant and successful experience,'' said Scott Loehr, a former director of the Fayetteville museum. He is now director of the Augusta-Richmond County Museum in Georgia. ``Winslow was efficient, professional and well organized. We exceeded our goal.''

The company has taken on successful fund-raising campaigns for 38 organizations, according to literature at the museum.

Winslow said he uses three pitches to try to convince people to donate to the museum:

It is a $10 million investment on the waterfront that will be a catalyst for other business.

It will be a valuable education tool for students in the region.

This is a historically important region in the state and country.

``I'd say this is the region of the state with the richest history,'' Winslow said.

Museum officials have compiled an impressive list of the region's firsts to help sell the museum's significance:

The first colony in the new world on Roanoke Island in 1587.

Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America.

North Carolina's first general assembly, held at Halls Creek in 1663.

North Carolina's first public school, formed in Nixonton in 1705.

Revolutionary War's first military unit, from Tyrrell County.

Nation's first lighthouse, built at Cape Hatteras.

First powered airplane flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903.

Nation's first soybean production plant, built in Pasquotank County in 1915.

The local money will not only serve to get the attention of state legislators, but also will finance such things as a $45,000 restoration of a shad boat, a $50,000 mural and a $75,000 film introducing the region's history, according to a capital campaign statement prepared by the museum's board. The rest will go to design and development of modern-looking exhibits and galleries.

The Museum of the Albemarle is one of three branch museums of the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh and serves 13 counties in northeastern North Carolina. ILLUSTRATION: MUSEUM FUNDS SURVEY

Winslow-Considine Inc. of Winston-Salem has nearly finished its

survey of about 60 civic and government leaders to see whether $1.1

million can be raised locally in three years.

The results of the two-month - long survey will be announced July 28

and may determine when, or if, the state will finance construction

of an $8.5 million, 50,000-square-foot museum.

The museum is a renovated version of an old highway patrol station.

Its 7,100 square-feet is packed to the ceiling in artifacts, with

some larger antiques, such as a 100-year-old farm wagon, literally

left out in the cold.

Museum officials have dreamed of a new building for at least 10

years.