Marshals Museum receives $1 million pledge

A $1 million pledge to the U.S. Marshals Museum puts the documented pledges around the $8.3 million mark.

The $1 million pledge is from a source in the Fort Smith area, Museum Executive Director Jim Dunn said Friday (June 3).

“We are on cloud nine and it will be very important to our campaign going forward,” Dunn said.

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. The cost to build the 50,000-square-foot museum — including exhibit work — is estimated as high as $50 million. Museum officials have not estimated on when the money will be raised and the museum opened.

The “Make History” Campaign, with a goal of $50 million to build and open the museum, was launched March 29 and a closing event is planned for the end of July.

“We have collected only a fraction of the cards so far and will release the total following the end of the campaign which will be near the end of July. As expected, several donors have advised that it will be the end of the calendar year before their/its pledge will be finalized,” Dunn noted.

The announcement of the $1 million pledge included the following statements from Dunn.
• “We are grateful for the financial support and commitment of donors to the museum.  Whether they give $1 dollar or $1 million dollars, we appreciate their gifts.”

• “As we continue with the Fort Smith campaign and move into the Arkansas and National campaigns, this gift will play a significant role in signaling the strength of this project.”

• “This tells other potential donors that we are serious about seeing this project culminate in the only U.S. Marshals Museum in the country. And, that there is a real reason to support this project. Fort Smith was chosen for several reasons-among those was the support of its citizens across the board. The campaign for the U.S. Marshals Museum continues to move forward. At the conclusion of the Fort Smith campaign, we will launch the Arkansas campaign, and then the national campaign.”

Museum staff are also hoping that Members of Arkansas’ Congressional Delegation are successful in a renewed effort to get legislation approved that would mint coins in commemoration of the 225th anniversary of the United States Marshals Service.

Some proceeds — potentially up to $5 million — from the coin sales would be used to help support the U.S. Marshals Museum to be built in Fort Smith.

In June 2009, then U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, filed HR 2799 to push for the coin. A similar action at the time was made in the U.S. Senate by then U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

The commemorative coin, if the new legislation is approved, would be minted in 2014 to coincide with the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the Marshals Service. It would be available in two denominations, a $5 gold coin and a $1 silver coin, and would be the first commemorative coin to honor the United States Marshals Service.