State Funding Vital to Milwaukee Public Museum Accreditation
$40 million in state funding will help museum meet goals laid out by accreditation commission
The $40 million included in the state biennial budget for the Milwaukee Public Museum‘s new facility is critical to the museum’s accreditation, according to organization president and CEO Ellen Censky.
In February, a commission from The Alliance of American Museums voted to table the museum’s re-accreditation because the museum’s current building is in such poor condition it poses a threat to the safety of the collections held there.
Governor Tony Evers included $40 million for the museum in his biennial budget proposal, and it was one of the few major proposals that survived the changes made by the Legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee.
Censky told the Milwaukee County Board’s Parks, Energy and Environment Committee on June 15th that securing public funding for the new facility was critical to the museum’s capital campaign for the new facility. This was one of the objectives highlighted by the accreditation commission.
She said the public funding will show the museum is making “significant progress” toward the objectives necessary for re-accreditation.
The museum’s future site is directly linked to its accreditation. The current building has millions in deferred maintenance. The museum has been reduced to relying on buckets to catch water falling through its leaking roof during rainstorms.
Also key to securing re-accreditation, Censky told the committee, is developing a “bridge plan” for securing the collections that are most at risk. In July, the museum will present that plan to the board. That effort is likely to cost $100,000, according to a report from the museum.
If the plan for collections is approved, and with public funding potentially in hand, the museum may be able to show the significant progress required by the commission by the deadline in February 2022.
Censky told the committee that current museum attendance is at about 35% to 40% of a normal year’s level. Though, she said, this is roughly what the museum was projecting.
As of the end of March, the museum had approximately $197,000 in attendance revenue since the start of the fiscal year in October. Attendance revenue from October 2019 through March 2020 was $962,000.
The museum received approximately $2.3 million from the federal government through two rounds of the Paycheck Protection Program. Censky told the committee this money was largely used “for shoring up our staffing.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the museum lost its accreditation. While the museum’s re-accreditation is tabled, it has not lost its accreditation. The article also incorrectly stated that the “bridge plan” would cost $100 million, it will cost $100,000.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
More about the New Natural History Museum
- MKE County: What Will Be Done With Existing Public Museum Building? - Graham Kilmer - Aug 7th, 2024
- Indigenous Artist Creating Art Installation For New Public Museum - Graham Kilmer - Aug 1st, 2024
- MPM Holds Groundbreaking for $240 Million Museum - Graham Kilmer - May 7th, 2024
- Construction of New Museum Scheduled for Summer - Graham Kilmer - Mar 12th, 2024
- Museum Begins Epic Task Packing Collections - Graham Kilmer - Feb 27th, 2024
- New Federal Rules May Require Public Museum to Remove Some Exhibits - Graham Kilmer - Feb 2nd, 2024
- MKE County: Public Museum Experiencing Frequent Maintenance Issues - Graham Kilmer - Dec 14th, 2023
- MKE County: MPM Needs $35 Million To Begin New Museum Construction - Graham Kilmer - Dec 12th, 2023
- Public Museum Gets New $2 Million Donation - Graham Kilmer - Oct 17th, 2023
- Eyes on Milwaukee: After $15-Per-Hour Pledge, Museum Gets Zoning Change - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 31st, 2023
Read more about New Natural History Museum here
MKE County
-
RNC Will Cause Some County Services To Be Moved to Wauwatosa
Jul 12th, 2024 by Graham Kilmer -
Hank Aaron State Trail Will Be Closed For RNC, State Fair
Jul 12th, 2024 by Graham Kilmer -
MCTS Designing New Bus Shelters
Jul 10th, 2024 by Graham Kilmer
Remarkable, that the Republican dominated Finance Committee approved $40 million dollars for the Milwaukee Public Museum. MPM is NOT just a City of Milwaukee or County of Milwaukee institution. It has had a statewide audience along with people from other US states and other countries. Congratulations to those Republicans who put their issues aside and supported the museum. Disclosure: yes, I volunteer at MPM.