The Joplin Museum Complex in Joplin, Mo., asked the City Council on Monday night to move its cramped operations to Memorial Hall on Seventh Street, aka Route 66, and levy a sales tax to help pay for it, renovations and operating expenses, reported the Joplin Globe.
Brad Belk, director of the museum complex, told the council that the plan would give the museum the expansion space it needs to house collections that are in storage. It would make the museum a visitor destination on Seventh Street, the former U.S. Route 66, and place it near downtown revitalization efforts. It also would preserve Memorial Hall, where use has been spotty for several years, Belk said. […]
The museum has outgrown its 8,000 square feet of display and meeting space, though it possesses what visitors describe as an important collection of minerals that were part of the mining boom that developed Joplin and the Tri-State Mining District that included Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma.
Besendorfer said that when she became a board member and first toured all the nooks and crannies inside the museum at Schifferdecker Park, “I was so impressed yet dismayed that we have phenomenal collections, yet they are in the basement (in storage). Sadly, we have to say ‘no’ to (more) collections. We don’t have the space to save them for later.”
What’s being proposed is a one-sixth of a cent sales tax that would cover the $7 million in expenses. The sales tax could then be lowered once construction bonds are paid off.
The city attorney is also checking to see whether moving the museum to Memorial Hall would violate the facility’s covenants, which allows it to be used as a meeting hall and auditorium. Memorial Hall was built in 1923.
The mayor seemed reluctant to proceed, but a majority the City Council advanced the measure to possibly put the sales tax on a referendum. The council could vote on it as soon as January, with a public vote as soon as April.
I noticed a few Joplin Globe readers want the railroad depot to be the museum. But these pictures show the depot in such disrepair that it would very likely take far more than $7 million to repair it. Restoring the depot is a worthy goal, but you’d better have deep, deep pockets to do it.
JOPLIN GLOBE,JOPLIN,MO.
A BIG YES TO MOVING TO THE MEMORIAL HALL
What you need is the services of a grant writer, as there are several thousand well endowed foundations that are extant for exactly this kind of project. Nothing will give your endeavor a black eye in the public’s view faster than talking about a tax increase, however small
More unsolicited advice, The most prominent mine owner out your way left a foundation for projects in your area, why not start there? His name escapes me, but he owned your local coal co. and lead mines.