FORT SMITH -- The U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith still has a considerable journey ahead before it can be opened to the public.
Alice Alt, president of the U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation, said the foundation has about $15 million left to raise for the project's capital campaign. Of that amount, $8 million will be used to start production on what is called the museum experience.
"The experience is what you'll see inside of the museum when you come as a guest -- the galleries, the innovative technology, the National Learning Center -- so that's really what we're focused on," Alt said.
The experience will be created by Thinkwell, a company in Los Angeles, Alt said.
Patrick Weeks, president and chief executive officer of the Marshals Museum, said the museum at 789 Riverfront Drive along the Arkansas River in Fort Smith will open about 15 months after the $8 million goal is reached. The museum will house five permanent galleries named To Be A Marshal, The Campfire | Stories Under The Stars, Frontier Marshals, A Changing Nation and Modern Marshals.
Alt said the museum foundation is reaching out to private and public donors, corporations, initiatives such as its GoFundMe campaign, vendors of the U.S. Marshals Service, and other foundations to get funding for the project. On March 12, Fort Smith voters rejected a proposal that would have levied a nine-month 1% sales tax to pay for the completion of the museum.
For the project, Weeks said the museum has raised almost $34 million so far in cash and pledges, with an in-kind land donation bringing the fundraising total to about $37 million. Fort Smith was chosen in 2007 as the site for the museum.
"After a national search to pick the home for the museum, Fort Smith was selected because of it being considered by the Marshals Service sacred ground because of how many marshals died riding out of Fort Smith in those frontier days and how many marshals are buried in this vicinity from that time period," Weeks said.
"And also, this community got together and really sang from the rooftops, 'Bring it home,' and it's home, right where it's supposed to be."
Weeks said construction on the 53,000-square-foot building, which started July 16, 2018, will be completed in late November to mid-December after more than 60 days of work lost to rain delays and 2½ weeks lost after Arkansas River flooding in May. The building is over 80% complete.
"We've got the building standing, the windows are almost completely in ... , most of the internal walls are built, electricity is run, but not necessarily terminated," Weeks said. "We're exactly where you'd be two months before, or three months before, you get it completely finished."
What is left to do, Weeks said, includes floor and wall finishes and interior wall construction, as well as some electrical, plumbing and roof work. The landscape also needs to be completed. The building, named the Mary Carleton and Robert A. Young III Building, was designed by the Arkansas firm Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, with CDI Contractors serving as the contractor.
By the time the museum gets past some changes that were made during the construction process, Weeks said the total amount spent on the building will be about $19.5 million. This is higher than an earlier price tag of $19.1 million, which was previously reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. These changes include additions to upgrade certain systems and ground work.
"We ran into some issues with the parking lot areas where we had to what they call undercut more than expected, so there was some cost associated there," Weeks said. "But it'll end up sitting right around $19.5 million."
One feature of the Marshals Museum that is complete, Weeks said, is the Samuel M. Sicard Hall of Honor, which pays tribute to the 376 people who died while serving in the Marshals Service.
The museum held a dedication Tuesday for both the hall of honor and the main building. Weeks said that day was also the 230th anniversary of the creation of the Marshals Service.
Among those who spoke at Tuesday's ceremony were Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, Fort Smith Mayor George McGill and Marshals Service Director Donald Washington.
After construction on the museum building is completed, Weeks said people will be able to visit both it and the hall of honor, but only by appointment, until the museum has its grand opening.
State Desk on 09/25/2019