What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/928490
Adding the second floor office space will enable the museum to use the room in the back for a classroom, Rennard says. The classroom space is important because the museum board wants to create a space where teachers could bring students to the museum and have a place to sit down and talk about what they had observed, she explains. "This will allow us to do all the things we want," she says. The interchangeable walls are also an important part of the renovation plans because they will create room for the museum to rotate exhibits. "We aren't rotating them, so a lot of our artifacts are in the basement and they aren't being seen because we don't have that flexibility," Rennard says. "If the idea of keeping history fresh for people makes sense, that's what we really want to do." Adding rotating exhibits will encourage people to visit the museum on a regular basis, Rennard says. Some highlights of artifacts that are not often seen are the furniture of the Simon Sager family and the first La-Z-Boy chair to come off the assembly line in Siloam Springs. Other changes will include a historic garden outside the museum, designed by Dawn Denton. The garden, which will be planted in an existing raised bed, will add interactive opportunities, Rennard says. The building is being reviewed by a structural engineer as well as the architect. The next step will be to present a report to the city about the viability of the second-floor space. Following the report, the city will be responsible for approving the hiring of a construction manager and reviewing bids, the press release states. Renovations are expected to begin in March and take about six months to complete. While the museum is under construction, the artifacts are being packaged and moved to the former Sager Creek Art Center, owned by the First United Methodist Church. A company that specializes in SILOAM SPRINGS 38 WHAT'S UP! JANUARY 21-27, 2018 Courtesy Image Architectural renderings by Matt Pearson show plans for the main floor of the Siloam Springs Museum. A system of interchangeable walls in the middle of the building can be configured in a multitude of ways, to give museum staff the flexibility to rotate exhibits. The two rooms in the back of the building will be used for a classroom and a special exhibit room, and the addition of bathrooms on the first floor will make the museum ADA- compliant. Siloam Continued From Page 37 handling antiquities is being hired to make the move, Rennard says. While the building is closed for renovation, the museum will be bringing mobile exhibits to schools and community events. The Siloam Springs Museum moved into the building on North Maxwell Street in 1972. Before it served as a museum, the building was a Church of Christ, Rennard says. The museum is an independent 501(c)3, but it does receive financial support from the city. The museum building is owned by the city and leased to the museum at no cost, and the museum also receives $50,000 a year from the city to help cover operating costs and salaries. The renovation process has been a collaboration between the city, its leaders, and the museum board and members, the press release states. "We appreciate the commitment to our mission to preserve the past, record the present, and provide perspective for the future through the collection and exhibition of objects of scientific, historical and artistic value, and by research and publication, particularly as they relate to Siloam Springs and its surrounding communities," the release states.