In 2015, Senate Bill 1200 passed both house and senate with nearly unanimous votes. The bill would have enabled restoration of the mineral museum by transferring all museum assets from the dysfunctional Arizona Historical Society to the highly effective and efficient Arizona Geological survey. Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed the bill. The veto letter said the Governor wanted to see an implementation plan before signing such a bill.
The plan reveals that the AHS cost estimate of $2.1 million
dollars to reopen the mineral museum was greatly inflated. Did the AHS just want a
posh facility for their wine and cheese crowd rather than a mineral museum, or
did they inflate the estimate because they wanted to block reopening of
the mineral museum?
It's very difficult to figure out what AHS really wanted. It seems rather likely that they really wanted the building, as did Governor Brewer, and did not have any qualms about destroying the most successful state museum when they slammed the doors in science students'faces. Just saw the Channel 3 longer episode with three strong and knowledgeable spokes persons. Trimble was again the only AHS spokes person and repeated himself with his opinions rather than with data. He doesn't believe the MMM had that many visitors, but it is public record. Also on record is the very poor attendance record at the AHS Tempe museum. Clearly, very few peo;le now see the State Mineral Collection, with only a few pieces on view in Tempe and some at their other poorly attended museums. Trimble sets himself up as a self-appointed expert on how bad the MMM was--but the students, teachers, and public who used that museum tell a different story. Oh, he forgot to tell us how much money, as in millions, the state is pouring into AHS's poorly attended museums! The MMM people were supporting their museum impressively.
ReplyDeleteThe mineral museum had over 50,000 visitors per year. The AHS museum in Tempe has only about 3,000, and attendance drops very year. Trimble has not done his homework.
DeleteMaybe Trimble should be asking questions about the attendance of the AHS Museum in Phoenix? Or the attendance of all of the AHS Museums. Or how much money Ann Woosley has raised or how much the Board has raised?
DeleteAHS fundraising is well documented: Marley Center Museum - ZERO, History Museum at Rio Nuevo - ZERO, Centennial Museum - ZERO.
DeleteThen why did they make Trimble the Board President?
DeleteBecause the former president was trying to resolve the mineral museum problem?
DeleteA lot of good that did! I think in the end Sen. Gail Griffen and the State Legislators and the Governor will finally solve the problem.
DeleteJust think how the AHS will be remembered. For doing collecting and preservation of Arizona History or this mess.
ReplyDeleteIt really sad for the kids and teachers who were the victims of AHS and Gov. Brewer who shut them out of their well-used and educationally respected Mining and Mineral Museum. Five years later, Brewer isn't talking
ReplyDeleteand AHS can only tell an ever changing
story that doesn't pass the "fact" test. We have a right to expect historians to be factually accurate and to back their opinions with facts.
Not so with AHS and Trimble. For the many science teachers and students who used the MMM as a valued science resource, having the State Honorary Historian tell us that MMM didn't meet state science standards is a slap in the face. The Dept. of Ed standards are for schools, not museums. The MMM and AHS museums must pass Sunset Reviews. I checked, the MMM reviews are great, and AHS's are historically poor. The reason we teachers went to the MMM was that it helped us meet educational standards.
The new mining display at AHS Tempe does not help us because there are no
education standards relating to mining. Admission to the AHS Museum has been increased to $12, and $7 for kids 7 to 12. There is only a small display of minerals and no excellent programs and educational displays like we had at the MMM. Instead of going to see two displays in the middle of a big history museum, teachers have been passing the word that the Earth Science Museum's Outreach Program is free and zeros in on the state science standards with hands-on-instruction. Teachers and students need the MMM reopened and we hope somehow Gov. Ducey will help that happen.
I saw the Sunday clip on Channel 3 and couldn't figure out who the guy was. Because he was a teacher (history,obviously not science) teachers who used the MMM and loved it should accept the AHS history museum in Tempe as a fix for the problem! The problem is the 40,000 students per year (200.000 for 5 years) who have been denied the opportunity to visit an educationally sound science museum. He wants us to dismiss that number and ignores the very poor attendance at the AHS Tempe musuem.And their two mining/mineral displays are not even close to the MMM resources.
DeleteBuy Trimble's reasoning, their low attendance justifies eliminating their museum. Restoring the MMM is worth whatever cost he's worried about. AHS gets lots of state money--let's use it to restore the MMM just like they did to destroy it, and loot the contents.
Marshall Trimble is the "official state historian" and now also the newly elected President of the Board of Directors for the AHS. However, he does not appear to be very familiar with recent AHS/mineral museum history.
DeleteWho made him the "official State Historian" and how does one get to have that title? Is it the number of books published? The number of books sold? The quality of those books? Are they the best researched books on Arizona history?
Deletewwww.marshalltrimble.com claims that Governor Symington appointed him in 1996. It does not say anything about Legislative confirmation.
DeleteI'm puzzled by the pictures of the inside of the old Mining and Mineral Museum. Up until the abrupt closure with students scheduled through the end of the school year, no one, not even AHS, considered the building unfit. The pictures used by Channel 3 had to have been taken after AHS ran off with all of the MMM property as the building is empty. Since the unnecessary closure Sen
ReplyDeleteGriffin toured the building last year and felt it was quite usable. Her plan this year includes a few upgrades, but clearly shows that the plans costing
$2 million plus AHS needs to use the
building is very inflated. Why cant we trust this agency?
The pictures referred to are in the Channel 3 video referenced in the prior post. The inside of the mineral museum did NOT look like that before the AHS locked the doors.
DeleteThere are unconfirmed reports that the AHS abandoned the building and no one kept the roof scuppers free of debris. Rainwater then got trapped on the roof and caused it to collapse.
Apparently, the AHS has damaged state property through negligence.
Cleaning out the roof scuppers is basic upkeep on any house much less a large State owned building!! So who is in charge at AHS? So will the State ask those same questions of AHS--what did you do to control this or avoid the damage. Check back in three months for mold growth!! LOL
Delete$12.00 to get into that museum? Not worth it. That is a typical response from someone like Ann Woosley. They can't even get more than 3,000 people a year to come in with what they have now. And how many of that 3,000 were real tourists either local or from out of state? And what number were there for rental events or as a library researcher?
ReplyDeleteit will be fun to read what the attendance is a year from now! LOL
For those wondering about Trimble--he's a singer and guitar player, and is good. Obviously he's not very good about learning the facts about the Mining and Mineral Museum before he speaks. That's bad for a teacher and historian. To our knowledge he never visited the MMM and
ReplyDeleteignored the almost total legislative support we had last year in the legislature, and this year in the senate.
Looks like your little bill is dead for now. Again.
ReplyDeleteGive up your rants. They get you nothing but high blood pressure.
A wonder what the taxpayers think of your comment about the "little bill". It is not a little bill. Anything that takes the Mineral Museum out of the hands of the AHS is not an unimportant bill.
DeleteAll of this does not disprove the fact that the AHS has a director who never leaves her office unless it is to get her photo taken, does not raise money, never does any lectures, or public relations. Prove me wrong. And her assistant director Bill Ponder is just plain lazy. Their Board never raises money and never votes on anything important.
DeleteIt isn't over yet. The "little bill" thought process of yours is doomed. My guess is that you are Mr. Norton or Mr. Trimble.
How does it feel to support people like Norton, Woosley and Ponder? Feel proud? Why don't you ask them why they do what they do?
DeleteThe idea that it would cost anyone who wanted to use the building 2+million to remodel it is now proven to be false.
ReplyDeleteSen. Griffin saw the inside of the building before she did her estimates and did a very careful and insightful analysis of AHS and DOA estimates. The leaking roof mess shown on Channel 3 is part of the hoax. and could have been prevented if AHS had actually been a "tenant". What I don't understand is why DOA agreed to support the AHS inflated costs. They should be willing to work with any prospective tenant when a building is empty and they still get government rent payments.