Over 30 apply for Watkins Museum position
More than 30 people have applied to be the next director of the Watkins Community Museum of History.
Judy Billings — director of the non-profit group that oversees management of the museum — said a committee has narrowed the field to six candidates. One round of telephone interviews has been completed, and the board soon will decide whether to bring some candidates in for more interviews.
Billings said the original plans called for the position to be filled by the beginning of the year, but she said the group will take more time if needed.
“We realize this is a very critical position in the life of the organization, so we don’t want to rush into this,” Billings said.
The position has been filed on an interim basis by former city manager Mike Wildgen since 2008 when the previous director was dismissed.
Details on how city leaders hope to use the Carnegie Library building to lure Civil War tourists are emerging, as a $1.5 million renovation project is set to be done by year’s end.
Judy Billings — director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and the group that runs the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area — confirmed her office has secured a new permanent display from a branch of the National Archives. The display focuses on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its role in sparking the Civil War.
The heritage area group also has hired a Kansas City-based consultant to develop a larger display for the main room of the Carnegie. That display will highlight the region’s role in the beginning of the Civil War but also will have a broader theme on how freedom has evolved.
“It will prompt thinking about our freedom and how it is related to events that have occurred in this area, and it will prompt people to think about how they feel about their freedoms today,” Billings said.
The effort will require some city funding. City Manager David Corliss said the display ultimately may need upwards of $200,000 to be completed. But Corliss said his recommendation is to fund the work from the city’s guest tax, which is charged to visitors at Lawrence motels and hotels. Corliss said that makes sense because a major goal of the project is to make the Carnegie the starting place for tourists who visit national heritage area — which includes 41 counties in Kansas and Missouri.
“I feel like we have to spend some money to rehabilitate the facility and create the exhibit to show we’re going to be a good leader for the Freedom’s Frontier area,” Corliss said.
The funding issues will be presented to city commissioners later this year.
Corliss said work to bring the building up to speed is nearing its end. Crews built an addition onto the north side of the building to house new ADA-compliant bathrooms and elevators. Work also was done to prepare the lower “garden level” of the building to serve as the offices for the convention and visitors bureau and Destination Management Inc., the non-profit that oversees the heritage area.
The main floor of the building, in addition to the exhibits, also will serve as a meeting and reception area that can be rented through Lawrence Parks and Recreation. Ernie Shaw, interim director of Parks and Recreation, said the main reception space in the Carnegie should seat about 200 people. That’s about twice as big as the popular reception area the department rents at the Lawrence Visitors Center in the old Union Pacific Depot.
“I think this building will end up attracting quite a few people who otherwise wouldn’t be coming to downtown,” Corliss said. “This will give them a new reason to visit.”
Billings said her groups hope to begin moving in during December. The Kansas-Nebraska Act exhibit may be up by mid-January, but the larger exhibit likely won’t be completed until spring.
Comments
frankfussman 2 years, 7 months ago
Americana Music Academy. Get them in there.
oneeye_wilbur 2 years, 7 months ago
I thought the headline would reveal the details of how the money was spent and who got what?
Mari 2 years, 7 months ago
I would have rather seen it become a children's library, but, as it is, I am wondering why it doesn't have more than one meeting space. Perhaps, then, we wouldn't need to add to those at the library.
And spend more money...
no_thanks 2 years, 7 months ago
Same people who led the charge for this project are leading the charge for the library. Both are examples of how public funds (granted the library is up for vote) are allocated to "pet" projects rather than thinking about how to better use our tax dollars (which includes reducing taxes).
jafs 2 years, 7 months ago
Why on earth didn't we use this space for a library annex?
The main reason against that was the need to bring it into compliance with ADA - but they're doing that for this project anyway.
oneeye_wilbur 2 years, 7 months ago
What is all that wasted space that has been added on? An entire parking lot at the rear and it is public land and some dopey box is stuck on the north side with nothing more than an elevator. Is the balcony on the east side for the city commissioners to address the public.
What a terrible waste of land. No imagination. Just throwing money down the drain.
shanep 2 years, 7 months ago
I hope it goes well. Freedoms Frontier is a pretty cool organization, a different take on learning about and experiencing history than the traditional methods.
That being said, I can also see where others are coming from. This building (one of my personal favorites in town) used to be a library, then sat vacant for years, now they're trying to get funds to turn an old library into a museum AND add on to the library??
kernal 2 years, 7 months ago
Big whoop; not good enough to change my mind. Do agree with Wilbur that space is being wasted. Think outside of the architecture of the '70's and '80's.
oneeye_wilbur 2 years, 7 months ago
the building lhas been ruined! Plenty of grant money is available, many talented local carpenters could have re created the original circulation desk. Then at the rear, had all genealogy materials moved the building. All documents from Watkins which is nothing more lthan a museum itself. Maybe make it a banking museum but it will never , ever amount to a proper historical musem with a collection. Better to make it an annex for Spencer Art Museum.
But back to the Carnegie. This civil war babble is only good for about another 10 years as most folks 48 and under don't care diddly squat. What happened to WWI, WW!!, the Korean War, Vietnam and now the entire middle east mess. Civil War sounds good, gives some folks a chance to grow their hair long and the women grow hair on their legs and dress up. More fun to dress up as Rhett Butler than some viet nam vet.
So the building is ruined. It is now a clubhouse yet for some more busy bodies that have figured out how to make a living from something very few are interested in.
Civil War? Where in Lawrence is an historic house , renovated and open to the public 7 days a week? Where?
No where of course.
All that space at the Carnegie and a box on the back. The entire parking lot should have been developed with a separate ultra modern building to showcase the past and the present in architecture.
I bet many in the town don't even know that John G Haskell designed a Carnegie library in Trinidad Colorado. All the babble about the Castle Tea room and even it is not open.
this carnegie renovation will be in need of more money in 5 years or less as it won't be suitable for squat and the "staff" will need more space. Big desks do make the staff look important. Strange how in Snowflake , Arizona the Chamber of Commerce works from space in a historic house on the Main street in town.
That wouldn't be good enough for Lawrence though.
The backside could have had a five story addition, ultra modern. Parking? Put in across the street, with most underground and of course for free. Who wants to charge or pay more than a nickel.
The city has no business running parking services. KU is greedy but they sure don't mind charging a dollar an hour next to the Union and they GET IT too, What is wrong with the city commissioners getting a nickel and a dime.
Talk about civil war, those are civil war prices.
vegetablegirl 2 years, 7 months ago
Jafs- I agree. This should be our "extended library". Secondly, how many "meeting spaces" do we need? We have meeting rooms in the current library, meetings rooms at the Chamber of Commerce, meeting rooms at the LMH expansion, meeting rooms at Bert Nash and last but not least, meeting rooms at the DG County Fair Grounds. What a total waste of space......
Mari 2 years, 7 months ago
Exactly. There are also meeting spaces at various Parks & Rec location (South Park, Holcomb, E. Lawrence, Community Bldg).
Just because 200 requests for meeting space had to be declined at the library does NOT mean that these groups were not able to find another place to meet.
As a long-time patron and supporter of our library, I am not pleased by the final plan for improvements.
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