Steve Jansen has been offered a chance to retire as a full-time paid historian for the Watkins Community Museum of History, and it appears he already has chosen to accept.

Jansen received a written offer Thursday outlining terms for his departure from the museum he directed from 1980 to August 2001. Since 2001, he has served as historian.

The document came from the board of directors of the Douglas County Historical Society, which runs the museum at 1047 Mass. and which has faced intense criticism in recent months from Douglas County commissioners about the museum’s direction, leadership and future.

After meeting Thursday with the five members of the board who also serve as the museum’s management committee Jansen left the building quickly before returning a few moments later to hand over his museum keys to board attorney Andy Ramirez.

Asked whether he was still employed, Jansen shook his head and left through the side door.

He then asked whether he was permitted to begin removing his belongings, and Ramirez said he could.

Jansen soon left the building and declined to comment, saying he needed to consult with an attorney.

Jansen’s departure is expected to clear the way for the board to hire a full-time administrator, with responsibility for fund-raising and management of museum operations.

Steve Jansen sits at his desk while a committee of the Douglas County Historical Society meets to discuss his future at the Watkins Community Museum of History. After the meeting, the beleaguered longtime museum employee was offered a chance to resign.

The museum has been operating without a paid administrator for more than a year, after two longtime employees Jansen and Judy Sweets, now collections manager were demoted, their salaries cut and five volunteers on the museum’s management committee left the organization.

Commissioners met with the board this summer and strongly encouraged that the museum hire a professional administrator. Otherwise, they said, the museum could lose the county’s annual $55,000 contribution, which accounts for a third of the museum’s budget.

“The people who get you into trouble are not always the ones to get you out of trouble,” Commissioner Bob Johnson said earlier in the summer.

And without much chance of raising more money, board members knew they faced a difficult decision. Thursday afternoon, they met and agreed to offer Jansen a chance to retire.

After the meeting, board members declined to discuss the decision or its effects. The agreement includes stipulations that neither side discuss its conditions.

“I can tell you that there are personnel matters that were being discussed,” said Ramirez, the attorney brought in by the board for the meeting with Jansen. “Those personnel matters are still under consideration. I’ve been brought in to consult with the board on those matters and I have no comment beyond that.”

¢ 6News video: Watkins Community Museum loses director¢ Staff shortage may close museum for Christmas week (09-27-2002)¢ Museum board told to reform or resign (09-20-2002)¢ 6News video: Pressure is put on the Douglas County Historical Society¢ Museum’s fate hangs on plan for makeover (09-16-2002)¢ Watkins Community Museum Web site¢ Museum management criticized (07-03-2002)¢ Museum deals with budget woes (04-05-02)¢ Letter to the editor: Museum support (03-10-02)¢ Watkins museum staff get community help (12-03-01)¢ Museum board surprised by financial crisis, ‘rash’ action (09-03-01)

Before the meeting, Jansen said he felt like “a dead man walking” for the past several months as speculation swirled about his future with the museum that he joined as a part-time researcher in 1977.

Since then, Jansen has become known for his colorful recollections of Lawrence and area history. He often traveled to nursing homes, elementary schools and neighborhood meetings to discuss the bloodshed of Quantrill’s Raid, the civic contributions of Elizabeth M. Watkins or the stories behind the inventor of basketball and Kansas University’s first basketball coach, James Naismith.

But before Thursday’s meeting, Jansen, 53, sat in his familiar chair on the museum’s second floor and continued to clear off his desk, a painstaking process that began a few weeks ago but would become essential only an hour or so later.

What comes next remains unclear.

He’s currently teaching two history courses at Longview Community College in Lee’s Summit, Mo., and last year he taught KU history students about the methods for gathering and presenting history. He hopes such opportunities continue.

“I look forward to continuing to share Douglas County history in some capacity,” Jansen said, before the meeting. “You can’t make a living charging for talks not in Lawrence, Kansas.”