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Update: Historic Town Hall’s Future Use as Community History Center.
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Staff: |
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Susan Brown, Executive Director/Director |
Community Arts & Culture/Library |
Overview: In October 2017, Town Council affirmed the future use of Historic Town Hall at 100 West Rosemary Street as a community history/culture center. The purpose of this item is to update Council on staff’s work since then and in advance of the IFC’s future move out of the facility.
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Recommendation(s): |
That the Council receive this update.
Background:
• On June 27, 2016, the Council received a petition <http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=2805&meta_id=133807> regarding combining the Visitor’s Center and Chapel Hill Museum at the Historic Town Hall facility.
• On October 26, 2016 <http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=2923&meta_id=142703>, the Council established a committee to consider the possible future use of the Historic Town Hall facility as a visitors and history center.
• On June 26, 2017 <http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=21&clip_id=3168&meta_id=167046>, the Council accepted the Committee’s report and dissolved the Committee.
• On October 11, 2017 <http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=21&clip_id=3299&meta_id=176523>, the Council affirmed Historic Town Hall’s future use as a history/culture center.
Current Projects
• Staff are studying best practices and innovative approaches for community history centers and museums. Staff toured The Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, the Raleigh City Museum, and other local institutions and met with their staff.
• Staff are applying for federal grants to assist with community engagement, visioning, and initial planning. We are waiting for a decision on our IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services) grant application focused on the following:
Chapel Hill Public Library (CHPL) proposes a one-year $100,000 planning grant in the Community Catalyst category to develop a shared vision and strategy for a local history and culture center in Chapel Hill, NC. CHPL will serve as the leader in a collaborative, community-driven process alongside partners including The Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Making and Saving History, Chapel Hill Historical Society, and the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Center for the Study of the American South. This project will: 1. Establish a participatory relationship building model for community engagement around public history; 2. Explore and share innovations and best practices for community-driven civic institutions; and 3. Articulate a clear, shared community-driven vision for a local history and culture center.
• Staff are planning and executing projects that are responsive to growing interest around community history and build buy-in for the future history center. Current projects underway include a mobile, pop-up Civil Rights Timeline exhibit, a set of Civil Rights in Chapel Hill trading cards, and a local history podcast. Other projects under consideration include a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Walking Tour and a project to document Chapel Hill’s local music scene through the years.
• Staff are building collaborative local networks to support the development of a community history center, strengthening relationships with the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, the Center for the Study of the American South, the Chapel Hill Historical Society, UNC’s Wilson Library, and others.
Council Goals:
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Create a Place for Everyone |
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Develop Good Places, New Spaces |
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Support Community Prosperity |
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Nurture Our Community |
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Facilitate Getting Around |
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Grow Town and Gown Collaboration |
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Attachments: |
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• Draft Staff Presentation |
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting. |
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PRESENTER: Susan Brown, Library Director and Executive Director for Community Arts & Culture
RECOMMENDATION: That the Council receive this update.