September 2001
As many of you know, I am on leave this semester, and the Museum has reached a position after five years of development that enables me to depart for a short period of time. Serving in my absence is Professor Dan Blake from the Department of Geology. Dan has a BS in Geology from the University, took a Ph.D. at California Berkeley, is a Professor of Geology, and he is a former director of the U of I Museum of Natural History. So the museum is in good hands under Dan for the Fall semester.
An update on our new building. Building construction headaches arose with floors and stairs construction, but these problems have been resolved. The staircase treads were replaced, and we have a new floor covering that, based on both aesthetics and durability, is better than the original. Although there was a lot of heartache, I think we have a much nicer presentation for our galleries with our improved floors and stairs.
The University of Illinois Foundation and I have been working closely on our opening day celebration which is scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2002. It is currently planned for the afternoon, but the time could change. Jim Gobberdiel from the Foundation has been working with us to link the celebration with the international or global university, and we will be a featured presentation of that week's festivities. We hope you all will come and join us in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The news is good in terms of progress toward opening day. Our fabricators are working diligently on our props and casework. We will be receiving the casework and background materials for the Museum's exhibits in three or four different installments, the first to come in November. Once the material is received our Museum staff will be working on the exhibits and placing the artifacts within the various pieces of casework.
With the good news comes a bit of a warning. Once the Museum's doors are open, there will still be a lot of work to do. The Museum needs to be accredited, so that we can bring in the finest travelling exhibits. The Museum unfortunately will have exhausted its fiscal resources, and therefore we need a new campaign to replenish our endowments. All of the money that we have accrued thus far has gone into opening the doors of the Museum. There is a new challenge to find the funds to keep our operating support at a level that is high enough to support the programs that we expect from the Spurlock Museum. Dean Delia, Dean Osterhout, and the Foundation have already been working and preparing for this new challenge, and we hope that the friends of the Museum and our future friends will be able to support the Museum and its programs to ensure quality education during the years ahead.