Mystery of the Missing WV State Museum, Part 2: “Get R’ Done”
Mystery of the Missing WV State Museum, Part 2: “Get R’ Done”
Subplot: Just Because It’s Expensive Doesn’t Mean It’s Good
Sweet: “I see in the papers where a Virginia company was hired for $6 million to do the fabrication and design of “The Missing WV State Museum” (see previous blogpost here).
Sour: “You mean the ‘whiz bang gizmo Disney-esque showpath’ museum we’ve been hearing was on its way for years? I wish I could have just one of the millions they have wasted on that project.”
__________
Sweet: “A lot of arts people wish they could have had just one of the millions they wasted on that project. A number of organizations would be thriving today instead of dying on the vine if they had been given just a fraction of the money they flushed down the toilet these several years on this disaster.”
Sour: “The administration then was ‘fiddling while Rome burned’ with the rest of the arts world. Well, it had better be good. They better get it right this time. We are not going to be able to redo it again in my lifetime at this price tag.”
__________
Sweet: “I agree, the last thing we need is yet another debacle in the press, especially since the eyes of the NATION are now on us due to the “Heathergate WVU” scandal and the “Spike and Don’s Excellent Adventure” scandal making us look yet again like corrupt, backward and inbred (a nod to DICK Cheney) — in essence, morons to the rest of the nation.”
Sour: “You mean the corrupt, backward morons that we are.”
__________
Sweet: “Don’t say that about your state.”
Sour: “I wish people would give me a reason not to. I think it’s a bad idea to build such an expensive museum. I wish they’d scale it back and instead update it every couple of years to make it fresh. Haven’t we learned from past mistakes? Somebody needs to tell these people ‘Just because it’s expensive, doesn’t mean it’s good.’ Oh, I’m also thinking of The Clay Center here, the Governor’s Mansion re-do, the fancy new eatery in the Capitol basement. I could go on …”
__________
Sweet: “I LIKE what they did with the first floor of the Gov. Mansion! It looks stylish and appropriate for the Mansion’s style.”
Sour: “I’m not talking about the FIRST floor.”
__________
Sweet: “Anyone seen the design plans for the new State Museum? What are they going to include? What are they going to do with the art? Where are the Archives going to be? Are they still planning another cafe/gift shop? Will Fred Armstrong get his job back? Will Phil Kabler and Randall Reid-Smith kill each other in the press?”
Sour: “Seems like we’ve got some more mini-mysteries to sleuth. Dear Readers, blog in with any info you know about the WV Museum re-do. Or anything else MYSTERIOUS about the West Virginia arts world. Remember, as they say in the X files:”THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.”
June 12th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Where ya been?
“But for once, it’s unfair to say the museum is in limbo, it appears work is going great guns on framing up the space. Culture and History’s website has some pictures and drawings of the museum progress, although the pages appear unfinished and not up-to-date; maybe it’s the website that’s in limbo?
In any case, it’s no longer a $6 million hole in the ground, as Joe Manchin so politely put it several years (and commissioners) ago.”
June 13th, 2008 at 11:52 am
WV State, yeah, just hope it’s going to be at least good. Considering all the dough that’s been wasted until now. And the expensive price tag. Hope these new people in charge of it (the fabricators and the new administration) are better than the last set(s).
June 14th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I think that your arguments about the museum and the arts are misguided. Sure the museum deserves criticism for many of the past mistakes. But, I wish those in the art world would understand that the arts are no island and that history museums and art museums and others like us are all lumped in to the cultural programming boat. These same types of arguments are made anytime funding is used for cultural venues and programming. I have heard many complaints in the history community about how the arts gets too much money through grants from the state. I think you would disagree. So using your argument about the state museum, then why should we fund the state’s symphonies, the Huntington Museum, Vandalia, Public Radio, Mountain Stage,Tammarack, etc? Or should city funds and help be used for Festivall? Trash pick up and police overtime are expensive. Should federal funds have been used for the Clay Center? The answer to all of these questions is that: Yes would should fund them because of the economic impact these things have and the impact that they have on our qualitiy of life. I could go on and on and I am sure that you could as well. But, pitting groups against one a another only benefits those who do not want to fund the arts or history. I’m sure you have heard this one before, “If we give it to one we will have to give to everybody else.” The result is we both lose. I support the arts. In fact I returned to WV and chose Charleston because of its arts community. I believe that WE SHOULD FUND BOTH! And if we were smart we would stop being jealous of one another and support each others efforts to get more. Its not a zero sum game. Understand this. The money for the museum NEVER would have been given to the arts. Many in the legislature ridicuously think the arts gets too much now. Also understand, if one effort succeeds then in the long run we all succeed, and when one of us fails, everyone of us sink in the process. Waiting with glee in hopes that the museum falls on its face does not help the arts at all. In fact railing about it in places like blogs only gives support to those who wish both communities harm.
A better use of your venom should be directed elsewhere. If you want to make a point about government spending, how about the Dept. of Tourism’s grants to the state’s Casinos in the amount of $961,000 (wvgazette 6/14/08 page 10A under briefs). There’s your million. I didn’t think the casinos were hurting.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
In the end, yes, the process of getting a state museum rebuilt has been screwed up. (worse than that, but Chas Newspapers won’t allow that kind of language) You can go back to when the original museum was contracted and built by, yes, an out of state firm. As soon as something is installed, it’s out of date. That’s the worrisome part of the new museum, will it be able to be updated, or will it, like a school textbook, be trapped in time and require a revision and a completely new printing to become up to date again?
As for the price tag, the problem has been nickel and diming from the start. It was never gonna be built for $6M, and like the Vet Memorial, they were never gonna get enough public funding to cover the price tag. How far over budget did the Clay Center go, and how many times did they go to the public trough for that? How much does the Clay and its tenants get directly from the state each year? (non competitively)
However, a state museum is needed, especially a history museum. Schools don’t make field trips to art museums; ask the Clay Center how many school groups visit the art gallery and how many visit the science museum. Art in schools is one step away from extracurricular activity; but science and history are core classes, and teachers desperately want to take their students somewhere for some non-textbook experience. We’ve all missed visiting the state museum; let’s just hope the wait was worth it.
I’m sure it will be - for a while.
In the meantime, instead of griping about the state museum that’s actually getting built, we should worry about the art gallery. If that gets turned into a gift shop, there will be NO ART on display in the Cultural Center.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Former state Archives and History director Fred Armstrong’s personnel grievance contending he was wrongfully fired last fall was dismissed this week - without a hearing - by the state Public Employees Grievance Board.
‘Denise Spatafore, acting chief administrative law judge, said Armstrong failed to show he was fired because he was attempting to uphold state law and “substantial public policy.”‘
Hello? He was protecting the state archive as mandated by the West Virginia Code.