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June 3, 2004 OFFICE 64
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The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich Conference Room
on Thursday, May 6, 2004. Members Present: Shirley Abrams, Tony Diaz, Margaret Bolick,
and Phyllis Riddle.
The '.Minutes of the May 6. 2004 meeting were unanimously approved.
Upon motion by Shirley Abrams and seconded by Margaret Bolick the absence of Tony Diaz was
unanimously excused for good cause.
Chair Phyllis Riddle reported on May 1910 reception hosted by the Mayor and City Council
honoring board, commission, and committee volunteers for their service to the City.
Business:
A. On May 1 t Tom Gallyon made a presentation to the City Council on behalf of the various
facilities in the Bayfront Plaza area. The Council seemed receptive to the proposal to
develop a destination name for the area that could become a common marketing tool.
B. The Committee reviewed the new Museum rack card developed jointly with the Art
Museum of South Texas. Also under review was a rack card developed by the Historical
Commission for the La Salle Odyssey. 100,000 of the former will be distributed by the
Friends while it remains to be seen whether there will be enthusiasm on the part of the
Odyssey participants to fund the publication and distribution of the latter.
C. School attendance is down 20 percent from the 2002/03 school year and reached a record
low for recent history. We have no indication through teacher survey's that the satisfaction
level with the Museum programs are causing the decline. It could be part of a national trend
that recorded a 15% drop in attendance to children's museums between 2001 and 2002 and
another 15% drop between 2002 and 2003. Schools are not charged an admission fee to the
Museum. Therefore, i f the foundation for this drop in attendance is economic, it is a problem
originating with the schools.
D. Roy Garrett and Amanda Torres of the Museum exhibit department presented a model and
plans for the development of the Cultural Encounters exhibit which is scheduled to open this
fall.
E. Rick Stryker briefly presented a list of permanent and temporary exhibits in the Museum
since 1990. In that time significant progress has been made to develop new permanent
exhibits. Also, a significant number of temporary exhibits were hosted until the temporary
exhibit program was, if not discontinued, at least de-emphasized. As much private support
through the Friends of the Museum was required to sustain the temporary exhibit program as
was spent on permanent exhibit renovation and installation. The temporary exhibit program
did not yield significant new audiences and, unlike the permanent exhibit program, it was not
possible to raise the targeted funds necessary to support temporary exhibits. The present
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phjbsophy envisions focusing on the permanent exhibits.
F. Advisory Committee members are invited to the Friends Board meeting on June 16ih at
which the City Engineer has been invited to share plans in the Bayfront area for parking,
traffic, and development. The Advisory Committee will not meet in July.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Addendum to Advisory Committee minutes:
The monthly Meeting of the Friends Board of Directors was held on Wednesday, June 16,
2004 at Noon in the DeDietrich Conference Room of the Museum. Members present included
Allen Borden, Peggy Fagan, Robert Fox, Toni Hunt, Suzel Mendieta, Ruth O'Brien, Geraldine
McGloin, Sue McCauley, and David Brown.
Guests at the meeting included Art Howerlon from the Auxiliary Board of Directors, Phyllis
Riddle. Hank Brennecke, Tony Diaz from the Museum Advisory Committee, and Yvonne Haag
from the City Manager's office.
I. City Engineer Angel Escobar and Assistant Director of Engineering Services Kevin Stowers
presented parking, traffic and development plans for the Bayfront area. Among the topics they
discussed were:
Traffic Improvements:
• improvement to Port Avenue for better access from/to IH 37
• extension of Tonkawa Street to Port Avenue with the relocation of the Broadway sewage
treatment facility providing better access from/to downtown and IH 37
• opening of access from Shoreline through the Watergarden.
• various Bayfront Plan components and issues
Parking:
• Whataburger Field parking: 1,500 new spaces to the east and another 1,900 to 2,100 new
spaces to the west
• co-use of parking
• bus transportation from public lots downtown
• paid parking for special events
Other Issues:
• Pods development of restaurant and hotel adjacent to the Museum
• relocation of Corpus Christi Beach utilities to Museum parking lot (between Mesquite
and Chaparral)
• relocation of the Corps of Engineers (if funded in the 2004 Bond Package)
• installation of a new storm water pump station at Port and Mesquite within 4 to 5 years
• replacement of the Harbor Bridge within 13 to 15 years and its implications
The concept developed for the area is co-use of parking. The American Bank Arena and
Whataburger Field will add to the parking demand. Still, it is expected that the area will be
approximately 1,400 parking spaces short at peak usage times. It is anticipated that there will be
Advisory Committee Meeting
June 3, 2004
Page 3
20 to 35 multiple events annually for which parking will be difficult. The use of bus
transportation such as is presently the case for events such as Bayfest will partially address the
shortfall in parking. The proposed streetcar system will also be helpful, particularly if Shoreline
is re-routed north of IH 37 and the Watergarden route is utilized.
For the most part. normal event schedules will avoid problems. There are only 70 home games
for the Hooks and most are in the evening. Convention business is mostly daytime business.
Arena events are mostly in the evening.