Museum gets $100K grant for improvements
This is the Hall of Fame building at the Museum of Appalachia. It holds thousands of artifacts on two floors. A grant the museum just received will add an elevator to the building to give access to people with disabilities. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Among the improvements will be an elevator to be installed in the museum’s Hall of Fame, a large two-story building at the front of the property along Andersonville Highway, to give disabled visitors access to the second floor. The building houses thousands of artifacts that are on display for guests, but the second floor is now accessible only by stairwells.
Also included in the work to be paid for with the grant are improvements – including pavement – to many of the museum’s rough gravel pathways to better accommodate wheelchairs.
“We are thrilled to be awarded the Capital Improvement and Maintenance Grant from the Tennessee State Museum,” said Lindsey Gallaher, the museum’s president and granddaughter of founder John Rice Irwin.
“This grant will allow us to make our grounds much more accessible to our guests,” she said. “The addition of a lift in our Hall of Fame and walkway improvements throughout the pioneer village will enable more folks to fully engage with the historic structures and exhibits, ensuring a more complete and educational experience for all.”
The Museum of Appalachia is one of two museums in Anderson County to receive grants from a $5 million pool of money the state General Assembly approved last year “for the sole purpose of providing grants to museums with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization [designation] or affiliated with a governmental entity for capital maintenance and improvements,” according to an announcement from the Tennessee State Museum, which is administering the grants.
Rocky Top’s Coal Creek Miners Museum was awarded $50,000 to help with its plans to open a second floor of exhibits. That money also will pay for an elevator, and allow the Miners Museum to add heating and air conditioning, along with ADA-compliant restrooms, to the second floor, according to an announcement by the state museum.
The announcement said the state museum received 170 applications totaling $12.5 million in requests for the $5 million that was available. There were “full or partial awards to 108 museums across the state, representing 58 counties,” the release said.
Founded in 1969, the Museum of Appalachia “was created with the intention of immersing visitors in primitive mountain culture; to allow them to step back in time and authentically experience life in Southern Appalachia,” said an announcement from the local museum about the grant it received.
When it opened, “Modern technological advancements such as elevators or paved walkways were not part of the equation” for the Museum of Appalachia, the announcement said. The grant will take care of “much-needed capital improvements” to upgrade some of its facilities in compliance with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The Tennessee State Museum serves the state of Tennessee through history, art, and culture,” said Ashley Howell, the state museum’s executive director. “There is incredible work being done throughout the state by our strong network of Tennessee museums and historic homes.
“This grant is an extension of how we can further support their efforts and the preservation of local and state history,” Howell said. “We thank the Tennessee General Assembly for their support for Tennessee Museums.”
Capital Improvement and Maintenance grant applications allowed for a minimum request amount of $5,000 and a maximum of $100,000 each.
All projects must be completed by June 30.
“The Museum of Appalachia is a living history village with 36 historic log structures, two large exhibit buildings filled with thousands of authentic Appalachian artifacts and their stories, hand-tilled gardens, and a variety of fowl and farm animals, all set in a picturesque East Tennessee landscape and encircled with hand-split cedar rail fences,” according to a description provided by the museum.
“It features the most-comprehensive collection of Appalachian artifacts anywhere.”
The Museum of Appalachia is an affiliate of The Smithsonian Institution.