US News Travel recognizes Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum

The second post on this blog (June 7, 2010) reviewed the ratings for the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. It has been placed on over a dozen lists of best museums and best attractions in the Phoenix metropolitan area. That is a most remarkable achievement for a state museum that operated with only one state paid employee. The extraordinary success of this museum was achieved by volunteers and with self-generated funds.

More recently, the mineral museum received further recognition. It is on US News Travels list of 12 Best Things to Do in Phoenix. So how is Arizona responding to this recognition?

By closing it.

Closing it so that the building can be available for a 5C Arizona Centennial Museum (AKA Arizona Experience) that has absolutely no chance of ever being open for Arizona’s centennial.

Closing it for a $15 million 5C museum that may never be completed because just over 10% of the necessary funds have been raised to date.

Closing it for a new museum that, if finished, has close similarities to the $30 million failed Marley Center Museum in Tempe.

Closing it for a museum with similarities to the History Museum at Rio Nuevo that failed before being built (but not before eating up $1.4 million in design fees by out of state contractors).

Closing it for another museum operated by the Arizona Historical Society which has never produced a top rated museum in spite of having many across the state and a $6 million budget.

Closing it for yet another history museum which will be just two blocks from the Arizona State Capitol Museum (a history museum with unused floor space).

Closing it for a museum which will devote considerable floor space to the cockeyed idea that “history is learning and imagining the future”.

Closing it and eliminating the popular and essential K-12 earth science education programs.

Closing it and destroying a part of Arizona’s heritage that began in 1884.

Closing it and eliminating a museum featuring a Copper Gallery in the “copper state”.

Closing it and possibly scattering or destroying an irreplaceable, world class mineral collection.

Madness