HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 03/03/1994 MINUTES
Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History
Advisory Committee Meetingo
March 3, 1994
The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum at 12 : 00 Noon,
Thursday, March 3 , 1994 . Members Present: Alicia Perez, Alda
Klett, Susie Sedwick, Sharon Brower, Ruth O'Brien, ': Deborah
Kobelan, Gwen Henzi, Gene Pennebaker, Delbert Hooper, Drr =Lxn 3a%-'5-�
Mora and Dwayne Dean. Members Absent: Cindy Gamez .
Chair Alicia Perez called the meeting to order, and the minutes
of the February 3 , 1994 meeting were unanimously approved as
written.
The absences of Delbert Hooper and Linda Mora from the last
meeting were approved for good cause.
4a. Gateway Project - Mr. Chuck Thomasson, a former Museum
Advisory Committee member and head of the Downtown Management
District Board, introduced Mr. Gordon Landreth, an architect who
is a member of the DMD and Chairman of the Gateway Project
Committee . This project is one which the DMD has taken on to
beautify the downtown area . Mr. Landreth' s presentation to the
Advisory Committee involved two aerial views of the C. C. down-
town area -- one before beautification (an "as is" view) and one
after. Improvements would include the use of wildflowers for
color; creating a park area from Shoreline back to the inter-
change and the old courthouse; closing Water Street and creating
a park area between Chaparral and Shoreline (Mesquite St . has to
remain open because of Fire Station #1) ; and eventually making
the downtown streets one way, with northbound traffic on Chapar-
ral . Items of interest and beautification in the "green belt"
would include meandering paths, sand courts, volleyball, and
focal points coming off the interstate. The old courthouse
preservation and Tri-Ad are separate issues . One major concern
continues to be that any time a festival is held in the downtown
area (ex: Bayfest, Jazz Festival) , the Museum is essentially
closed down due to traffic congestion.
4b. Xeriscape Garden - The irrigation pipes are being laid now;
the sidewalks are being recut ; the berm is about halfway done;
construction on Gazebo #1 (Water Story) should be finished within
the next 3-4 weeks, and the Water Story should be installed in
May; and the campaign to sell brick pavers has begun. The second
gazebo is being built . In April, the plant material for the berm
will be put in. The new front entrance and regrading is extreme-
ly expensive; therefore, this will be the next part of this
project . This exhibit will be open by summer, and most of the
major trees will be in by then.
4c . As of February 28, the Scenic Trail (RTA' s Route 73 ) comes
by the Museum about every 40 minutes (between 10 AM and 6 PM, 6
days per week) . Beginning March 12 , the Water Taxi will begin
running on Saturday and Sunday between the Aquarium and the
Lexington from the People' s Street T-Head. Cost is $1 . 00 each
way .
SCANNED
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Advisory Committee Meeting
March 3, 1994
Page 2
4d. The Museum may have an opportunity to sponsor an Elderhostel
program. These programs are self-supporting . Elderhostel
headquarters is in Boston, and they affiliate with local educa-
tional, non-profit institutions which bank the money and issue
the checks . The Museum' s share would be $5 per attendee per
week; 28 students is the break-even point , but the classes from
Port Aransas have been running as high as 45 people. Jane
handles one of these programs per week now anyway, and if we
became a sponsor, she would handle about 40 programs per year.
The hiring of staff would be a joint venture between the Museum
and the Elderhostel headquarters . The speakers could be Museum
staff and volunteers as well as community people . The idea is to
have experts speak. The Advisory Committee gave unanimous
approval to the idea of the Museum acting as a sponsor for an
Elderhostel program. The next step will be to present the idea
to the Friends, since the funds must flow through their account,
not the City' s General Fund.
4e. Within the next 2-3 months, the Museum will be distributing
rack cards parallel with the Fleet . The preliminary design was
approved this week. The Art Museum chose to do their own rack
cards this year . Also, recently, a visitors survey was put into
effect . Previously, we only asked for zip codes . Guest sign-in
books are located at the front and back desks . The security desk
has now become an information desk which is manned by a cashier
on Saturdays and Sundays .
The Auxiliary adopted a budget of $36, 000 to help with
several different Museum projects . One of the projects from last
year which was recently finished is the picnic tables which have
the ADA benches .
The Queens Tea will be held March 7th from 2-4 p.m. The
exhibit should be installed by next Saturday and will be up for
approximately one week.
The Whooping Crane Tour to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge,
which was sponsored by the Friends, paid for itself . Approxi-
mately 40 people attended.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at
1 : 27 p.m.
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