I haven't really been that into this project to be honest with you. Philly and DC are pretty close, so do we really need a museum like this? I dunno, it
could work if it's done right I guess. As long as the mgmt. from the Civil War Museum is not involved it should be okay.
Leaders wait for site, details for African-American musuem
Sunday, October 03, 2004
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News
Few final details are known about the plans for Harrisburg's $20 million National Museum of African-American History.
It might be at the museum board's preferred site of North Third and Verbeke streets, near the Broad Street Market. Or it could end up on North Sixth and Boas streets.
It could include a jazz club intended to make the museum a more culturally vibrant heritage center. Or it might not.
It likely will have a restaurant, but it might not add another dash of culture by specializing in soul food.
Despite the uncertainties, museum board chairman Fred Clark is confident that the plans will be finalized in the next month and that the museum will break ground next year for a fall 2006 opening.
"The mayor is totally committed to this project," he said. "It's going to happen."
Over the summer, the museum board considered eight proposals from architectural and design teams. The field has been narrowed to proposals from three of the teams.
While refusing to identify the teams or reveal many details, Clark said the design concepts could be adapted to either site and would achieve the goal of a culturally vibrant, fully interactive museum.
It is now up to Mayor Stephen R. Reed to review the proposals and pick a winning concept, a process that Clark said could conclude in the next 30 days.
Finalizing the site and some of the key components of the museum could take a bit longer.
In April, the museum board enthusiastically embraced a plan to locate the museum in the abandoned Furlow building and the adjacent Historic Harrisburg Association building on North Third and Verbeke streets. But the Furlow building was under contract to a York developer, and Historic Harrisburg officials said they were never approached about the plan.
Since then, Clark said, museum officials have reached a deal to lease space in the Furlow building, but they haven't come to an agreement with Historic Harrisburg.
"Time is running out," Clark said of the prospects for a deal.
That's the reason the museum board is still considering the site at Sixth and Boas streets as a backup plan. Most of the land for that site is owned by museum board member Annette Antoun, the editor and publisher of The Paxton Herald.
"It's going to be one or the other," Clark said of the competing sites. "I can't say which right now."
There was also a backlash over a few of the key features the museum board touted as a way of making the facility more successful.
Clark acknowledged objections to the idea of a jazz club as part of the museum, saying some midtown property owners and other club owners have raised concerns.
As a result, Clark said, it's no longer a certainty that the museum would include a jazz club or a soul food restaurant. But he said there would be plenty of other entertainment, including movies, lecture series and an eatery.
"It's neither in nor out at this point," Clark said of a jazz venue. "But I can tell you that we are not looking at a nightclub or anything to compete with the St. Moritz [a jazz club also on North Third Street]. And we are not going to jeopardize the integrity of the two neighborhoods."
Jason Smith, who worked on the museum concept with Clark, said the project risks failure if too many of its unique characteristics are stripped away.
The result, he said, would be a more traditional, static museum that would have trouble attracting patrons, much less repeat visitors.
"I don't think an African-American museum, as such, is viable," said Smith, who owns a downtown design firm. "It needs to be more than that. It needs to be a heritage center. If you rip away too many things, you begin to lose that vision."
Clark said the museum would offer many attractions beyond the usual artifact displays. But he said he can't begin building public and financial support for the project until a site and a final design are chosen.
To pay for the project, Harrisburg is hoping to secure $12 million from the state, then raise matching money. All of that activity is awaiting a final concept for the museum, Clark said.
"We have to get a site and a plan. Then we have to sell it," he said.