Energized by a fresh outlook and new board members, leaders of the Douglas County Historical Society say they are looking to build a viable future by bidding farewell to a recently divisive past.
âÂÂThere are people who are going to be disappointed in whatâÂÂs happened, but - by and large - everybody understands what we are trying to do and is working to help us succeed,â said Phil Godwin, society president.
Nearly 100 people attended the organizationâÂÂs annual meeting Wednesday night at the Eldridge Hotel, and together they approved initiatives to help heal wounds that have threatened the very survival of the societyâÂÂs main asset: the Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Mass.
The societyâÂÂs decisions - to reduce its boardâÂÂs size and solidify the boardâÂÂs authority to oversee the museum - came less than a month after the societyâÂÂs directors moved to end a bitter personnel struggle by encouraging Steve Jansen, the museumâÂÂs former director and historian, to retire.
JansenâÂÂs presence had polarized the societyâÂÂs membership more than a year after his salary had been cut in the midst of a budget deficit and acrimonious finger-pointing about disorganized collections, ineffectual fund-raising and other problems.
With JansenâÂÂs $32,000 salary available, the societyâÂÂs board now intends to hire a professional director to run the museum, raise money, boost membership and mend fences in the museum community.
âÂÂIt has to evolve,â said Faye Watson, a board member and Jansen supporter. âÂÂIf weâÂÂre going to save the museum, we have to move forward as a united group.âÂÂ
This summer, Douglas County commissioners threatened to withhold all or part of the countyâÂÂs annual $58,000 allocation unless the museumâÂÂs management received a major overhaul. The societyâÂÂs annual budget is $163,000.
The decision to remove Jansen and hire an experienced administrator, Commissioner Charles Jones said, âÂÂincreases our resolve to give them the resources that they need and that we can afford.âÂÂ
The society still needs money to add a kitchen and expand the museum store. It also needs $30,000 in private financing to accept a $24,000 grant to finance an exhibit on the Underground Railroad, after a foundation rejected the societyâÂÂs request for help.
Jim Martin, a board member elected Wednesday night, is optimistic that increased financing will come.
âÂÂOver a period of time, that goal should be very doable,â said Martin, who retired in September after 11 years as president of the Kansas University Endowment Association.
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