Houston wants to fund museums? Don't forget about our veterans
At last night's Icehouse gathering, I had a conversation with a gentleman which relates to a previous blogHOUSTON topic -- the city's funding of the African-American Museum.
The conversation led to this conclusion: if the city is going to enter the field of museum-funding, we think the city should be an equal opportunity museum-funder, including providing money for the proposed Veterans Museum in Texas.
This archived story from August 16th's Chronicle has some details of the struggle to get this museum up and running. I'll excerpt a brief portion:
The private group spearheading the proposed Veterans Museum in Texas got its biggest boost yet when it formally took possession Monday of 35 acres of land donated by Exxon Mobil near the Gulf Freeway and Scarsdale on which to build the museum .
[snip]
Browne said the land deal with the oil giant requires his group to break ground within five years or the property will revert to Exxon Mobil.
He said he needs about $75 million to start construction on the $140 million museum .
He expects building to begin within the next three years, he added.
Browne, who has been pushing the idea of a veterans museum in Houston since at least 1998, said the group has raised about $7,000 for the project.
"We had to get the land," Browne said in explaining the lack of funding to date. "But now, fundraising can get into high gear."
The museum board of directors plans to seek federal and state grants, as well as corporate and private donations.
My understanding from last night's conversation is that the city of Houston has been approached about providing some funding for The Veterans Museum of Texas and the city has declined to help.
That's very disappointing, in light of the city's apparent willingness to give $2 million to fund an African-American museum.
The gentleman I was chatting with last night made a good point: Houston has a whole lot of hotel rooms to fill, and having The Veterans Museum of Texas up and running could help that. How about a veterans convention at the GRB, and other assorted veterans events sponsored by the museum?
Come on, Mayor White -- think Big Picture here and do the right thing.
(Of course, the key here is that the city should NOT be in the business of financing museums, but if Mayor White and city council want to start down that road...)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/09/05 06:11 PM | Print |
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