Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2016 08 03 JT

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Page 11 of 150 The Commission and the Foundation lend support to the Historical Museum and to historical projects, and the efforts of the members of the Commission and the directors of the Foundation are crucial to the ability of the Museum to fulfill its mission. III. Timeline of the Museum's Organizational History The following timeline shows the highlights of the Museum's organizational history. • 1979 — Inspired by the celebration of Louisville's 100th anniversary of its founding the previous year, interested community members began to organize a structure for the preservation of Louisville's history. The Louisville City Council established the Historical Commission and appointed its first members. At this time, the Historical Commission had responsibility for historic preservation as well as other historical matters. • 1984 — City staff filed Articles of Incorporation to make the advisory Commission a nonprofit corporation organized in the State of Colorado. The corporation was named the Louisville Historical Commission, Inc. City Council then appointed members to serve on both the advisory board and the corporate board. Also, the first artifact donations were accepted for the Museum, which had not yet opened. • 1985 — The Internal Revenue Service granted tax exempt status to the Historical Commission, Inc. as a 501c3 organization and the Commission began to fundraise. The Pioneer Award program began. • 1986 - The City of Louisville opened its Historical Museum in a historic miner's house, the Tomeo House, located on Main Street in historic downtown Louisville. Historical Commission members prepared the building, began the process of accepting donations, and staffed it for limited public hours. • 1987 — The Commission established a membership program and people began to pay dues to become members. The first issue of The Louisville Historian was published. • 1990 - The City opened the second building of the Historical Museum in the historic Jacoe Store structure located next to the Tomeo House. The Jacoe Store became the main building of the Museum. • 1999 - The part time City staff position of Museum Coordinator (the first paid staff position) was created. The Museum began to use the museum cataloging software, PastPerfect, which it still uses today. • 2001— The City relocated the Jordinelli House and Summer Kitchen to the Museum site, where they replaced a small parking lot. • 2002 — The Commission adopted mission statements for itself and the Museum, and began to increase its fundraising efforts. For a time, these efforts included an annual silent auction and an annual Holiday Home Tour. The City formed a Historical Preservation Commission that took over responsibility for historic preservation issues. • 2004 — Pursuant to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, visiting museum experts assessed the Louisville Historical Museum as part of the Conservation Assessment Program (CAP). The CAP report recommended that the City increase storage space and staffing levels at the Museum. In particular, it concluded that "[storage needs to be addressed as soon as possible." The CAP Report suggested creating "a viable collections center in a new, purpose built facility on site.... The same building could have excellent exhibit spaces and rooms for offices and programs." The report encouraged the City to move forward with a new building on the site and noted that it would also help address other issues, such as ADA accessibility. It recommended that the new building could serve "as the main entrance to the site or nucleus for the site," as "[v]isitors could get a good 3