Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2016 05 04

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PROJECT SCOPE The City of Louisville's Historical Museum is a wonderful complex of buildings currently comprising two historical homes as well as a former mercantile building, along with a summer kitchen and outhouse. A new structure has been proposed on the complex grounds, using the lot between the Tomeo House and the Jacoe Store. Based on needs assessment work conducted by Metcalfe Architecture in December 2014, the proposed structure will be visible to the public as a museum and civic gathering place, focused, per the City, on the City's commercial and domestic history. The new building will make possible much needed storage space as well as office and ADA compliant rest room facilities. The building will also make it possible to significantly open up the interior footprint of the Jordinelli house for additional exhibition space. The summer kitchen will be moved to make the outdoor campus space more usable. The estimated cost for the new building and related upgrades to the campus is $3.477 million. A portion of the funding for this is likely to come from grants from the State of Colorado as well as from private sector foundations and donors, the single largest capital support will necessarily come from the City of Louisville. For this public expenditure to be supported, the Museum needs to demonstrate that its operations, with the new building and enhanced grounds, will be an economic and civic asset to Main Street and the community. The Museum has put together an interpretive plan for the complex, and has done outstanding work preparing for a larger role as an important historical anchor for Main Street. After completing its interpretive plan, the Museum sought outside counsel to provide business plan recommendations. ArtsMarket, which provides business planning for museums, cultural organizations, and cultural districts throughout the US and Canada, was contracted to provide two days of on -site time and to develop business plan recommendations based on this. In addition to holding on -site round tables and interviews, ArtsMarket reviewed similar historical museums as benchmarks, examined Louisville demographics and donor potential for private sector giving capacity to a capital campaign, and drew upon best practices standards in the historical museum /house museum field. The resulting business plan recommendations are a companion to the interpretive plan, speaking to the uses and users, the programming, opportunities for service to the community, and the operational side of the Museum. FOUNDATION FOR THE BUSINESS PLAN While local historical museums are often viewed as most important to seniors who grew up in a particular community, the Louisville Historical Museum is every bit as important to those who have moved into the City. Based on the round tables conducted, it is clear that newcomers have been influenced to move to Louisville in part because of its rich history. r Page 1 5 Louisville Historical Museum Business Plan Recommendations