Art museum may grow while other Dover cultural venues face cutbacks

Delaware State News

DOVER — Cultural interpreters often allude to the shifting sands of history, of how one series of events may have influenced others, and so on and so on.

Quietly, during the past month or so, there’s been a shifting of sorts going on in Dover regarding the public’s access to Delaware history.

Two state museums have been shuttered, another has almost closed and others had their public visitation hours cut back.

Meanwhile, the Delaware State Visitors Center on Legislative Mall has moved to the Delaware Public Archives building, the accompanying gift shop has closed, and the Biggs Museum of American Art stands ready to possibly increase its exhibit space by as much as 25 percent.

Tim Slavin, director of the state’s Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, has been at the center of much of the shifting process. He acknowledges the cutbacks and points to the sluggish economy and strapped state budget as the primary culprits.

"These are challenging times for cultural organizations," he said, noting that similar groups across the country are facing severe budgetary squeezes. "The result is less public expenditures."

But former state Supreme Court Justice Henry R. Horsey, whose grandmother, Mabel Lloyd Ridgely, devoted much of her life to preserving local history, called the shifts an "abdication" of the state’s responsibility to provide easily accessible information on Delaware history to schoolchildren and the general public.

Mr. Slavin explained that the building housing the nonprofit Biggs Museum, on Federal Street on the west side of Legislative Mall in Dover, was built by the state in 1992. A visitors center, gift shop and small exhibit area for state-owned artifacts took up the first floor. The second and third floors would house an art museum, made possible several years earlier when Dover resident Sewell C. Biggs, an avid art collector, signed a trust agreement with the state that opened his collection of rare and fine art to the public.

"It was designed to be a public/private partnership, with a board of trustees," Mr. Slavin said of the deal with the Biggs organization. "A permanent lease agreement was signed between the state and Biggs trustees for the sum of $1 a year, with the state responsible for utilities and maintenance."

The agreement with the state, Mr. Slavin said, stipulates that the board of trustees be composed of three state government representatives — the secretary of state (currently Jeffrey Bullock), the director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (Mr. Slavin) and Sen. Nancy W. Cook, D-Kenton, who worked to cement the agreement and is an original member of the board. The remaining members, representing both public and private sectors, are selected by the governor.

Asked if being on the museums’s board of trustees presents a possible conflict of interest, Mr. Slavin replied it does not.

"I recuse myself from voting on all financial matters," he said. "I basically serve in just an ex-officio capacity."

The Biggs/visitors center arrangement continued until this year, when the state decided to close the gift shop and move the visitors center a block and a half away to the Public Archives building on Duke of York Street.

"We began the (new) visitors center under full sail on Aug. 1 in the Archives building," Mr. Slavin said. "We’re winding down the old visitors center and hopefully will have it closed by the end of the year. Having the center in the Archives building is a natural extension of the First State Heritage Park."

Established by former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner in 2004, The First State Heritage Park is a partnership among the Delaware Department of State, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Delaware Economic Development Office.

Billed as the state’s first "park without boundaries," the partnership works to link historical and cultural sites in Dover.

"We think of it as an orientation place and embarkation point for visitors," Mr. Slavin said. "There’s plenty of parking, public rest rooms, vending machines, and gorgeous space in the lobby to exhibit some of the state’s collection."

As part of the transition, he said the first floor of the old visitors center was offered to the Biggs Museum.

"We’re in amicable negotiations with the museum now as to how they occupy that space," Mr. Slavin said.

Dover architect C. Terry Jackson, who chairs the Biggs’ board of trustees, said museum representatives have been meeting "in bits and pieces" with the state to finalize a new agreement for taking over the extra space in the former visitors center building.

"Obviously the first floor will expand the floor space available for exhibits in the museum," he said. "It would greatly enhance the museum. We’re all really hoping this will come to pass. We’re aiming for the end of the year."

Mr. Horsey, who owns the Colonial-era Ridgely House on The Green in Dover, said he is furious over the decision to move the visitors center to the archives building.

"I think the rationale is specious," he said. "The state is spending $300,000 a year or more on the Biggs Museum and (Mr. Slavin) is talking about saving money?

"The state is paying three lawyers $1,000 an hour to fight for sports betting. ... Talk about spending, they’re spending money hand over fist!"

Mr. Horsey said he wrote a letter to the Biggs’ board of trustees in June, asking that they reject the state’s offer of the first floor in the former visitors center.

"Over the past many years since the building was constructed — entirely with state funds — the Museum Division has occupied and put that important first floor to use as an entree to your museum above," Mr. Horsey said in the letter, a copy of which he gave to the State News.

"That building has become, over the years, the principal public venue advertised in Dover, our capital, for visitors, both students and adults, to come, see, hear and learn about Delaware’s storied past and the selected historic treasures of our state. ... What a loss that would be — if this thoughtless act were permitted to be carried through."

In an interview last week, Mr. Horsey said he has yet to get an answer to his letter.

Mr. Jackson acknowledged receiving Mr. Horsey’s letter.

"I don’t know if we’ll answer it or not," he said.

Mr. Horsey said he believes closing the Museum of Small Town Life and The Delaware Archeology Museum, coupled with the reductions in hours at other sites, as well as moving the visitors center, are all part of a larger plan to reduce the impact of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.

"The division is being reduced to practically nothing," Mr. Horsey said. "Pretty soon it will do nothing but keep historical records. It’s lost all of its drive as far as I’m concerned."

Mr. Horsey likewise faulted the city of Dover and the state legislators for not stepping up to the plate.

"The city has absolutely no interest," he said. "The General Assembly puts historic preservation at the bottom of its list. They’ve been doing this for years.

"The Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is the orphan of the state of Delaware."

Mr. Slavin countered that because of the sagging economy, the division must take steps to tighten expenditures.

"We had gift shops in five locations two years ago, and we were losing money," he said. "We can’t justify that right now. I’m not sure that we should even be in the retail business."

He said Delaware has been able to weather the lengthy recession better than many other states.

"For example, the state of Michigan just eliminated its entire Department of History, Archives and Libraries," Mr. Slavin said. "They pieced it out to other parts of the government."

He also disputed Mr. Horsey’s claim that the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs has been severely diminished.

"We oversee 32 historical properties from Claymont to Fenwick Island," Mr. Slavin said.

"Those properties have an appraised value of more than $40 million. We have more than 90,000 artifacts and a million archeological artifacts, some of which we exhibit in our museums and also loan to more that 50 public venues across the state.

"We review more than 800 federally mandated historic preservation projects and oversee more than $5 million in historic preservation tax credits."

Finally, Mr. Slavin rejected the notion that moving the visitors center is a "loss."

"The (building on Federal Street) was built as a visitors center," he said. "Now we have a better visitors center.

"At the end of the day, moving the visitors center is a win for us."

Meetings planned to discuss uses for closed Dover museums

Senior news editor Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or at teldred@newszap.com.