HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 05/04/2017 CORPUS CHRISTI MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY ADVISORY BOARD
Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 12:00 PM
Museum Conference Room, 1900 N Chaparral Blvd, Corpus Christi, Texas 78401
MEETING MINUTES
Call to Order: 12:00 PM by Jonda Halcomb
Roll Call:
Present: Jonda Halcomb, Steve Arnold, Amanda Leal, Cary Perales, Sonia Castillo, Anita
Eisenhauer, Ruben Rocha, Gene Peacock, Esther Velazquez
Absent: Scott Sutherland
A. Adoption of Minutes from February 3, 2017 meeting
a. Motion to Approve was Seconded and Unanimously Accepted
B. Public Comment
a. None
C. Museum Director's Updates
a. First quarter and first half of the fiscal year have been successful
b. Director reported on a variety events held during first half of the fiscal year
(Halloween, New Year's Eve, Chisholm Trail Days, Spring Break Camp)
c. To help facilitate staffing and planning Spring Break Camp was capped at 60
students and Summer Camp will have a cap of 120 students. Spring Break sold
out. Two students came to Camp through Texas Workforce.
d. Gene and Jillian attended the Texas Association of Museums Annual Meeting
where the museum received two Texas Association of Museums Media
Innovation and Excellence Awards: Bronze Award for Chemistry in Action and
Gold Award for McGregor Monday's. Resulted in a Caller Times front page story.
e. School groups have increased and attendance is up over last year
f. Report of upcoming events including Star War's Day in May, Medieval and
Spanish activities in June and 4t" of July event
g. City Engineering Department is helping to resolve roofing issues. City Facilities is
helping with HVAC issues. Exploring options of self-contained cooling units
allowing abandonment of overhead water lines as this is not ideal in a museum
setting. Also looking at a possible Bond to take care of electrical system and
alarm systems updates
h. Introduction of new staff member to replace one having left to have a baby.
i. In the process of hiring for summer seasonal full and part-time employees.
j. Survey will be re-sent out and left open for 30 to 45 days. Previously had 84
responses. Public comments were in-line with museum's future plans.
k. Advertising for museum activities via radio and TV not as effective as flyers and
website.
I. Future attendance goal is between 175k-300k once the museum is updated.
D. Deaccession Items — none
E. Museum Advisory Board Ordinance Revisions and Review — Clarification needed on
proposed board member make-up for new ordinance. Proposed ordinance to include 9
voting members as follows: 2 Friends Nominees, 2 k-12 Education, 1 Higher Education,
2 Business Community, 2 Community Advocates. At least 1 member should have a
background in STEM and at least 1 member should have a background in History. Esther
will bring revised ordinance to next meeting with anticipation of Council action in
August.
F. Planning Action Items
a. Short Term & Long Term Goals — working with the City to get the museum on
the right course
b. Master Planning — Gene provided details about scope for solicitation of Master
Planning services. The only parts that will not be addressed in the master plan
are the Shipwreck Exhibit, The HEB Science Center, and the La Belle and Spanish
Dome exhibits. Plans for the Plaza include exploration elements and a potential
for a restaurant. If everything moves as planned it is possible the Master Plan
could be completed by the end of the current fiscal year. Focus will be to
complete the outside stage first so that there is less impact when inside is then
worked on. Gene to provide a copy of the RFP to be sent to out which will be
similar to the draft document provided at this meeting. Master Plan Scope—
focus is on visitors, growth — more mission centered.
c. Strategic Plan — with the resources that the City has along with TAMU-CC and
Del Mar this could be done in-house reducing expenses. Museum staff has
started gathering some of the items needed. This Plan should be made available
on the website. Master plan is primary focus with the idea that in
August/September focus could shift to Strategic Plan. Strategic Plan Scope— how
do we raise money, programing, staffing, etc. - more business centered.
Discussion about Advisory board members attending upcoming Council meetings to promote
the Museum. Possibly coordinate this with the Advisory Board Ordinance change.
Gene discussed potential amendments to the management agreement.
G. Items for Next Agenda
a. Next meeting schedule for July 6, 2017 to noon
b. Advisory Board Ordinance change
c. Review RFP for Master Plan
d. Decide who will be going to speak during public comments at Council meeting
e. Deaccession of items — keep this as a standing agenda item
H. Meeting Adjourn at 12:55 PM