Appleton (Wluk) – Weeks before the doors closed, the counties of Winnebago and Outagamia are heading for a decision on the future of the campus of the cities of Fox Uw -oshkosh.
On Tuesday, the Appleton Airport, Leisure and Economic Development Committee, Appleton approved the last proposal. The Council of Outagaman County Supervisors will vote on the measure on May 13 – the final of four required approvals.
He was previously adopted in a County Committee of Winnebago and a vote of the supervisor.
The agreement would move the Weis Earth Science Museum to the History Museum of Appleton Castle. In exchange, the rest of the campus – which is located in Menasha, which is part of the County of Winnebago – would go to Winnebago county for only $ 1. Winnebago county expressed its commitment to preserving the Barlow Planetarium and Communication Arts Center.
Fox 11 exclusively obtained the complete transition plan of the History Museum.
The above plan, initially published in private in February, includes details on a moving the Barlow Planetarium in Appleton, which is not on the table today. To date, there is no expansion unless the County of Winnebago can move the Barlow Planetarium to the History Museum.
Two main concerns were raised by residents of the two counties: the cost of a transition and space available at the History Museum. They collected a private level of $ 233,000, which includes provisions for two positions – a science educator and a collections specialist.
“We hope that by the revenues won of people visiting the museum, delighted to see the new exhibitions and what we have to offer, that we will be able to keep the two long -term positions,” said Dustin Mack, executive director of the History Museum, who does not plan to request public funding.
The current installation of the Weis Earth Science Museum is 5,000 square feet, which includes both display and storage. The History Museum would devote 3,000 square feet to the main gallery to display the content of the Weis Earth Science Museum with an additional place for storage.
If the proposal is adopted on May 13, the museums will then work with the universities of Wisconsin to start the process, although the move itself begins until a legal agreement is in place between the counties and the UW. Although he opposed this move, Mikulic and the current Weis Earth Science Museum personnel said they are helping to help the transition.
The proposal must go through the County of Winnebago and the County of Outagamia because they share the joint property of the campus. Annual maintenance costs of $ 800,000 would be pushed to the County of Winnebago as part of the agreement, but they would also receive the advantages of a sale in most conditions. None of the two counties will pay these maintenance costs unless they manage to Find a buyer Before December 31.
Winnebago county also underwent leadership transfer last week after Gordon Hintz beat outgoing president Jon Doemel in the April 1 elections.
The proposal has full support from the Director of the Outagamy County, Tom Nelson.
“I was satisfied with the committee’s response and vote,” said Nelson at the meeting on Tuesday. “This is a very strong proposal. It guarantees that the resources remain in our community and allows us to progress and gives Winnebago County the latitude and the space they need to operate the global campus.”
The transition would guarantee that the collection remains in the Fox valley, but its status as a very respected independent scientific museum would be lost.
“We must also seriously ask the question of what has been lost with its reputation and brand identity in this deeply defective acquisition process,” said the Winnebago County supervisor, Walt Ulbricht, which represents the District 3 – the area that includes the Uw -oshkosh campus of Fox Cities.
Last week, the volunteer of the Weis Earth Science Museum, Don Mikulic, told Fox 11 that he had no indication that he could leave the area.
“There is very little or no public support for that,” said Mikulic, whose deceased wife designed the existing museum. “I signed a petition by more than a thousand people.”
The History Museum has support in the universities of Wisconsin and Appleton’s city, according to Mack, who added that Stephen Weis and Bruce Danz, who have an important part of the museum content, also expressed their support.
Mack said they also had a partnership agreement with Lawrence University in place to work with teachers and students to create an additional learning tool for students while obtaining an expertise from instructors.
“We had the impression that in implying, we were doing a service to the community,” said Mack, “by maintaining these things locally where they belong and ensuring that these exhibitions and collections still exist, accessible to the community.”