Seven years ago, a bit of political malpractice gave the Arizona
Historical Society control of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum on the Capitol
Mall in Phoenix. Subsequently, AHS
failed to raise funds for their plans for the building. Then, in 2011 the AHS
did the unthinkable. They locked the doors as children were still scheduled to
arrive on school field trips. The reason for the closure has never been
explained, and 240,000 children have now been deprived of a lifetime learning
experience.
Bills to fix the mess were introduced in 2015, 2016, and
2017. They all received extraordinarily strong
bipartisan support, but the Governor vetoed the 2015 bill. As explained in
prior posts, the veto was most probably secured by AHS lobbyists.
The 2016 bill became law, but someone (AHS lobbyist?)
managed to amend it with a poison pill.
If the museum did not reopen in two years, it reverted to AHS. Then, the
Arizona Department of Administration (legal owner of the building in 2016)
refused to allow the building to be re-occupied as is. ADOA demanded that the
tenant pay for $2.5 million in upgrades before re-occupancy would be permitted.
Obviously, no one was going to spend money on the building so long as there was
a chance AHS would get it back. Even an attempt at fundraising was pointless.
Finally, the 2017 bill (SB 1415) brought an end to the seven
years of madness when the Governor signed it on April 28. The bill eliminates any possibility of the AHS
ever regaining control of the museum and it transfers ownership of the building
from the ADOA to the University of Arizona. The UA is now in complete control, and
can begin cleaning up the mess made my AHS.
Notes:
Prior to the AHS takeover, the mineral museum was a part of
the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources. That state agency no longer exists, thus the
assignment of the museum to the UA.
The stated goal of the blog MMM when it started in 2010 was
to recover the mineral museum from the AHS. Since that has now been achieved,
this may be the final post on this blog. While the blog, and media coverage, kept
a public eye on the mess, the blog does not deserve credit for the end of the
madness. The dedicated determination of
Senator Gail Griffin, a strong advocate for natural resources education, is
responsible for the corrective legislation. She sponsored each of the tree
bills, guided them through House and Senate, and eventually obtained the
Governor’s signature. Students and teachers will be forever grateful for her
extraordinary efforts.
