Repost: Hamlethub published on Wednesday, 19 June 2019 Written by KTMHC
Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center (KTM&HC) has received a $96,575 Good to Great grant from the State of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development. The grant will substantially fund KTM&HC’s project to turn the raw space in the lower level of its new Visitor Center into a state-of-the-art museum collections storage and research facility.
“We have extraordinary documents in our collection,” says KTM&HC’s Executive Director, Hildi Grob. “Some great examples are a British officer’s hand-drawn schematic of the Battle of Ridgefield and Anna Marie Resseguie’s nine journals detailing everyday life in Ridgefield during the Civil War. We also have Cass Gilbert’s notes on the destruction he saw in post-World War I France.” She points out that these items, and many others, are more frequently accessed now as KTM&HC develops new tours and exhibitions for the public visiting its recently expanded site–and for its growing school programs, which reached upwards of 2,500 students in the just-ended school year. “We’ve taken good care of our artifacts, documents, artwork and old books,” she adds; “they’re in a secure, climate-controlled space, but it’s too small for our current needs and difficult for our curators to access.”
The Good to Great grant program provides state bond funding for capital projects that link art, history and tourism to enhance visitors’ experiences; it is administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) in cooperation with the Connecticut Office of the Arts and State Historic Preservation Office. Awarded late last year to 12 nonprofit organizations across the state, the Good to Great grants aim to help small and mid-sized cultural and historical sites–especially those that have received little state support in the past—”to enhance the visitor experience, improve access or otherwise grow their audience,” according to the grant award announcement.
Photo caption: Elizabeth Shapiro (far left) of the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office presented Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center (KTM&HC) leaders (left to right) Joel Third, Kam Daughters, and Hildi Grob with a facsimile check for a $96,575 Good to Great grant, administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development. The grant will substantially fund the creation of a state-of-the-art museum collections storage and research facility in the lower level of KTM&HC’s new Visitor Center.
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