West Central Reporter

City of Jacksonville Heritage Cultural Center Board met June 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The meeting (held in the Jacksonville Municipal Building Mayor’s Conference Room) was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by David Blanchette, Chairman. Those present included David Blanchette, John Clancy, Diane Hollendonner, Kyla Hurt (and Finn), Laura Marks, Lynne Phillips, James Pisell, Samantha Sauer, and Steve Varble. Absent were Patsy Erickson, Trevor Lawson, Charles Rice, Judy Tighe (Ex-Officio) and Brittany Henry (Ex-Officio).

Board member Jennifer Goldman has accepted a fellowship in Chicago and has resigned. All board members received a key to the traveling exhibit cases to use when working on exhibits.

Minutes of the May 2, 2019 meeting were approved as distributed.

Treasurer James Pisell reported a balance of $42,822.44 in the small business checking account. One of the new debit cards works, the other doesn’t yet. It may be necessary to rent a post office box to receive the monthly billing statements.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Administrative: David Blanchette reported that the bathrooms in the Old Post Office building are almost completed. Additional money will be needed for painting and plaster repair in the front lobby. Bound to Stay Bound has a new sign printing machine and has offered to try it out by producing signs for the museum.

Work continues on grant applications and a community survey, although the survey will not be used until the museum website is set up.

The Morgan County Historical Society voted on May 20 to offer their 501(c)3 designation to set up a separate temporary fund to accept donations to the museum, establishing the Jacksonville Area Museum Fund. Withdrawals from the fund will need to be approved by the MCHS board.

Comments and corrections are still needed for the Special Events Use policy.

Steve Varble presented a marketing services proposal with requirements and cost estimates for a website, branding, logo, social media presence, and print advertising while emphasizing that everything should deliver a clear message that supports the museum’s mission statement. It was voted (with Steve Varble abstaining) to authorize Steve, working together with Laura Marks, to proceed with development of the above marketing materials and to present an initial report at the July 11 meeting. Laura asked board members to email “words” that describe what the museum message would be for them to consider using in the marketing materials.

Collections: James Pisell and Samantha Sauer are still working on the proposal for the collections storage area.

Greg Olson has offered items from his grandfather’s grocery store, some projectile points, and a plummet; it was voted to accept all the above items into the museum’s collections.

David Blanchette is still accepting comments on the draft of the disaster plan.

Exhibits: Progressive exhibits are ready to install at Farmers State Bank (women’s hats), Lincoln Land Community College (archeology), the Soap Company (communication devices), and Shiraz (cigar making) as soon as a city crew is available to move the display cases. Two additional locations, Bank of Springfield and CNB Bank, need displays developed and installed. There are empty display cases in the main hallway at Jacksonville High School that could also be used for items such as the peanut roaster or rocking horse. A press release will be issued once all of the exhibits are in place.

Two busloads of JHS students from the honors history classes toured the Old Post Office building with David Blanchette and were very excited about working with the museum. One suggestion envisioned QR codes that would link visitors’ devices to student-created YouTube videos that explained items or historical events.

Promotion: David Blanchette will speak about the museum and the need for volunteers at the June 14 Rotary meeting.

In order to set up the website, a URL needs to be purchased and an account set up through GoDaddy. The debit card will be used for this.

OLD BUSINESS: None.

NEW BUSINESS: Laura Marks suggested a fundraiser based upon Flea Market Flip, an HGTV show that turns “fix up” finds into high end sales items. The project could feature some kind of contest and a sale of the items.

There were no public comments.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 11, 5:15 p.m., in the Mayor’s Conference Room at the Jacksonville Municipal Building. Note change of date due to 4th of July holiday.

With no further business or announcements to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.

https://www.jacksonvilleil.gov/city_government/boards_commissions_and_committees/docs/Boards%20Commissions%20Committees/HCC_Minutes/2019/HCC%20Minutes%206.13.19.pdf