The little museums that could! Heritage Museums & Gardens helps the troubled economy

Published on Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Heritage Museums & Gardens intends to do its part to help the local economy during these turbulent times. Following the announcement of the renovation and expansion of the J. K. Lilly III Automobile Museum in October of 2008, the Board of Trustees voted in February of 2009 to continue the building projects scheduled for its 40th Anniversary year. Board Chairman Donald McInnes noted, “Given our country’s present economic situation the decision to move forward with the Auto Museum Project was a tough one for the Board.”

The Board of Trustees has identified the need for its first ever capital fundraising campaign Foundation for the Future: A Major Gifts Initiative, a campaign to sustain the institution’s nationally significant gardens, to renovate its buildings, to maximize the public impact of the collections, and to increase the institution’s capacity to serve its community through additional education programs and public events. The Board determined after months of research and planning to establish priorities for addressing the most crucial institutional needs, and has developed a strategy to raise a minimum of $6.25 million to implement these exciting plans. The museum has currently raised $4.75 million and still needs to raise an additional $1.5 to meet its goal. Making these ambitious goals a reality for Heritage will require generosity on the part of all who recognize its place among the most important cultural institutions in this region.

The J. K. Lilly III Automobile Museum will undergo renovation and expansion starting this spring. The $3.4 million project designed by Wise Surma Jones – Architects, New Bedford, will transform the existing building by creating a new entrance, bringing the building up to modern fire and public safety standards, providing greater ease of access and mobility, enlarging meeting space, and adding automobile storage, which in turn will permit the change and rotation of the automobile collection. Construction of the new wing will be accomplished by C. H. Newton Builders Inc., Falmouth and Osterville. Completion is expected in May, 2010. The Round Barn Auto Museum will be kept open during construction, but the service wing will be completely renovated and expanded.

The Heritage Gardens will be enhanced by two new features during the anniversary year. The Flume Fountain designed by Stephen Stimson Associates Landscape Architects, Falmouth, will be a spectacular steel flume conveying a wide ribbon of water from the


Heritage entrance to the Daylily Garden, where the flume will terminate in a dramatic waterfall into an oval basin. Heritage anticipates the completion of the Flume Fountain in 2009. The second garden feature to be started in 2009 is the Hidden Hollow Family Adventure Garden designed by Horsley Witten Group, Sandwich, and the staff of Heritage. The new interactive, multi-sensory family garden will be completed in 2010.

“By using local companies to design, renovate and construct the three Heritage Museums & Gardens projects, we feel that we are contributing a stimulus package of our own to help the greater Cape Cod community,” noted Dr. Scott T. Swank, Executive Director. “The funds we raise for these projects will engage 40 contractors and the full-time equivalent of 32 construction workers over the course of the next year. Not only is Heritage creating employment opportunities, but the museum’s fund-raising efforts are bringing money into the local economy from Federal, State, and Foundation grants as well as private individuals. Dr. Swank also noted that the overall price tag of $4.1 million for these three construction projects has an economic impact that is at least three times the first dollar spent. As wages circulate through the economy, the original $4.1 million will have an impact of approximately $12 million.

Heritage Museums & Gardens is a non-profit, educational institution that is supported by admission fees, contributions, memberships, and revenue from programs, functions and the museum shop. The museum receives support from private foundations and donors, corporations, federal agencies, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities Fund. The museum will be open April 1 – October 31, for its 40th Anniversary year. Visit www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org

CONTACT: Judith I. Selleck
Director of Marketing
Heritage Museums & Gardens
Phone: 508-888-3300 ext. 115
Email: jselleck@heritagemuseums.org