Past, present and near future of Marshals Museum effort outlined

Editor’s note: It is the goal of The City Wire that this brief report serves as a useful summary of what has happened in the past two years, and what is expected to happen within the next few months in the effort to build the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith.

Dr. Sandi Sanders (pictured below, right), project director for the U.S. Marshals Museum to be built in Fort Smith, recently sat down with The City Wire to review the past and near-future milestones of the effort to fund and construct the national museum. (Link here for Sanders’ recent guest commentary about the museum.)

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum for the service. Sanders was hired in April to direct efforts to devise and implement plans for the design, construction and funding of the museum.

The preliminary cost for the museum is estimated between $30 million and $40 million. Sanders said museum advisors recommend a structure of no less than 50,000 square feet, with at least 21,000 square feet for exhibit space.

The museum has received $100,000 from the city of Fort Smith, $115,000 from Sebastian County, $200,000 from the state Legislature and $2 million from Gov. Mike Beebe.

Following is a list of key milestones in the project, milestones expected within the next year, and a few explanatory comments from Sanders.

MILESTONES: JANUARY 2007-JANUARY 2009
May 2007
• Articles of incorporation filed with Arkansas and non-profit status filed with IRS

• Two-year plan of action and timeline developed

June 2007
• First board meeting (13 members) held

• Memorandum of understanding finalized between U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Marshals Museum

September 2007
• Riverfront site selected for the museum (property donated by the Westphal Family)

• Sebastian County Quorum Court donates $115,075 to the project

October 2007
• Arkansas House of Representatives appropriate $200,000 to the project

December 2007
• Alexander Haas Martin & Partners of Atlanta selected to advise on fundraising program

January 2008
• The city of Fort Smith provides $100,000 to the project.

February 2008
• Gov. Mike Beebe allocates $2 million to the project

June 2008
• Boston-based Christopher Chadbourne & Associates selected as museum exhibit designers

• Fort Smith Community Foundation awards $6,425 to the museum

September 2008
• Jim Hackney, with Alexander Haas Martin, projects that $10 million-$12 million can be raised in the Fort Smith area

November 2008
• Reviewed 16 proposals from U.S. architect firms, with museum committee narrowing list to five firms (official selection of firm to be made Friday, Jan. 23.)

FUTURE MILESTONES: 2009
January 2009
• Museum committee to recommend architect firm to handle design of the museum

• Preliminary sketches of exhibits will be unveiled

• Members of the Museum Foundation Board (primarily responsible for fundraising) to be announced Jan. 23. Board, according to museum bylaws, will seat 15-30 members.

• First draft of “case study” from Alexander Haas Martin on fundraising plan (updates expected as the effort progresses)

June-September 2009
• Schematic design of museum building to be unveiled

June-December 2009
• Fundraising efforts become more aggressive/targeted

COMMENTS FROM SANDERS
• There are “high hopes” for a plan to find a high-profile person in each of the 94 U.S. Marshals districts. “If we have 94 people of means on the advisory council board, that will help.”

• “We must always remember we are building a national museum. That’s why we need the experts, the people with the experience and history.”

• The museum has not yet asked for significant financial support from organizations or individuals. “We are waiting for the schematic design … and exhibit drawings before we” go after the large donors.

• “They (museum experts) tell us we can’t cut back on our plans. This has to be a destination museum from the start … and that means we must have more than 21,000-square-feet of exhibit space, of quality exhibits, when the museum opens.”

• There is no established time frame for fundraising. “It will take as long as it takes.”

• “Every professional group who has presented to the board or one of our committees has praised the efforts of the museum board and the museum staff. … They will tell us, ‘You do things in the right way.’ And that’s important. It’s important, even if we take longer (than people expect), to do this right.”