Local Involvement Key to Museum Renovation
August 30, 2008
By ST. CLAIRE DONAGHY
Index-Journal Staff Writer
Greenwood, SC - "My History, My Community, My Museum."
That's the new motto for The Museum at 106 Main Street in Greenwood.
The motto embodies a sense of community ownership for the renovated facility, which opens to the public Sept 6.
Many locals have contributed financially - and in volunteer hours and materials - to transform The Museum into something to be proud of.
- Matt Edwards, The Museum's executive director, said "a community-based approach" was taken regarding renovations.
- "There are a lot of resources in this community a lot of people don't realize are here," Edwards said.
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- "Rather than having to farm stuff out to fabricate exhibits, I went to local businesses and asked them to make an investment in this project. Most folks have come on board with a steeply reduced labor rate or reduced-cost materials."
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| Exhibits also have tremendous local connections.
For example, the C.L. Beaudrot blacksmith shop "Main Street" exhibit on the main floor was sponsored by the extended Beaudrot family.
"They got together as a family, 25 cousins who have each given $1,000, are making sure the Beaudrot name is a permanent part of the Main Street exhibits," Edwards said. "The family had a blacksmith shop that started here during the 1800s and continued through the late 1970s.
"The whole plan behind our capital campaign was to get the community to buy in, both financially and conceptually, and to make it attainable for families and small businesses, as well as larger ones," Edwards said.
On average, the cost to do museum quality exhibits is around $300 per square foot, Edwards said.
"For the amount of exhibit space we have opening, it would have cost us $1.7 million at that price," Edwards said. "We trimmed things back, bare bones."
Getting local instead of out of town reduced the amount The Museum would have spent on shipping costs and other expenses, Edwards said.
The fabrication budget for just the main floor was set at $150,000, Edwards said, a far cry from more than a million dollars.
"Probably $148,000 of the $150,000 budget has gone straight back into our economy," Edwards said. "You cannot beat that kind of return on investment. We should support local businesses whenever possible."
Edwards contracted with an exhibit design company, Zoma Communications, from Mathews, N.C., which designed components and put together production drawings that were put in the hands of local companies to implement.
On another level, local people contributed to the museum "content," Edwards said.
"We basically came up with a 'script' to explain about the exhibits and we identified folks to the community who could help us with those interpretive stories," Edwards said. "We're able to use their knowledge base and they helped mold what this institution is."
Established as a nonprofit organization in 1967, and opened in 1970, Edwards said The Museum has always been a community and volunteer-driven entity.
"A lot of people believe we are a publicly-funded entity, but we are not," Edwards said.
"We depend on the generosity of folks in the community for our day-to-day operations and for projects such as this renovation."
The Museum did receive a one-time allocation of public funds for the building at 106 Main St., Edwards said, but operational funds for the organization do not come from public funds.
"This renovation has reinvigorated people's sense of ownership," Edwards said. "It's as much about getting involved and belonging as it is about building a building."
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