ROGERS -- Buildings, exhibit galleries and lobbies of the renovated Rogers Historical Museum will bear the names of generous donors.
The Museum Commission recognized several large gifts Thursday to its capital campaign and rewarded them with naming rights. The recommendation for naming facilities will go before the City Council before being implemented.
More Rogers Historical Museum expansion updates
• A special edition of the museum newsletter will detail expansion progress for readers. It will be mailed later this month.
• Staff plans to hold a press conference in May to make the information easier to access.
Source: Staff report
The museum's newly renovated collection building on the corner of Third and Poplar Streets, which was completed in March, will be named for Clayton and Sheila Eversole. The special exhibit gallery of the Hailey Ford building will be named for Dick and Nancy Trammel and the Hailey Ford building lobby will be named for Jim and Marilyn Necessary. The White River Exhibit, which will be among the six permanent exhibits of the museum, will be named for the Friends of the Rogers Historical Museum.
The Hailey Ford building was for many years home of the Rogers Morning News. The building was sold to the city by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
"Our capital campaign is moving right along and we've had some success lately," Burroughs said during the commission meeting. "We're very close to the goal."
Burroughs estimated the museum needs to raise $25,000 by the end of July to close out the campaign.
It previously garnered $3.6 million in private money that included a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. Museum expansion and renovation services have cost $1.7 million to date, but there's still work to be done. A total of $498,000 will soon be spent for renovation of the collection building. Grant money from the National Endowment for Humanities contributed to costs for construction, demolition and asbestos abatement.
Burroughs said city funding is still in progress for the museum and staff is awaiting notifications about further grants. Meanwhile, renovation work remains on track.
Various property maintenance measures, such as interior painting and minor repairs, were taken on the Hawkins House recently and the fence that surrounds it will soon be replaced with the help of a volunteer. Staff will soon select a new heating and air condition unit for the Hawkins House, Burroughs said. The city included the expense in its 2017 budget.
The Key Wing also received some painting and repair, and the collections building will receive new smoke and security alarms this week. Staff hopes to plant seed in the lot near the collections building in preparation for this year's Family Day event on June 3.
Drawings of the work planned for the Hailey building have been finalized and the museum will hear a guaranteed maximum price for the work at the end of the month, said Richard Calloway, curator of exhibits.
"They start construction at the end of May, which has been the plan for three years," Calloway said. "It's all sticking to the price within the budget."
Calloway said that some of the plans have been modified since the commission last reviewed the documents and renderings, but none of the changes were major.
Commissioner Dani Madison inquired more detail of the changes and whether the members could see them one last time.
Burroughs said all changes were subtle differences designed mostly to cut down on expenses, such as the loss of the apple orchard idea. Previous design plans had trees scattered throughout the Hailey building parking lot. Calloway assured the commission that all colors and overall design concept remained the same.
NW News on 04/07/2017