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TO: Mayor Thomas J. Weisner
FROM: John Russell, Grant Writer
DATE: 7/16/14
SUBJECT:
Requesting approval to enter into a Project Agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and acceptance of a $750,000 Illinois Public Museum Capital Grant for the interior restoration of the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum.
PURPOSE:
This grant will allow for the completion of restoration of the interior of the GAR Memorial Museum, and for the development of exhibits. This grant and other funding provided by the City will allow the historic Museum to be opened again to the public.
BACKGROUND:
The Aurora Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall, Post 20, was built in 1878 as a gathering place and tribute to Union Army veterans of the Civil War -- and as Aurora's first free public library. Its construction was funded entirely by donations from a grateful community, and it was built on land donated by one of Aurora's earliest settlers, Joseph Stolp. Over the years, more than 700 Union Army veterans were members of Aurora GAR Post 20. The Museum is on the National Register of Historic Places and in the Stolp Island Historic District. The GAR Museum has been closed since the 1990s because of concerns over the building's safety. Since that time, most of the exterior restoration work has been completed. The grant from the state will assist in the completion of the interior work.
DISCUSSION:
About $2.75 million has been spent on restoration and shoring up of the exterior of the building -- $2.2 million in City funding, and about $500,000 in grants from the state, county and private foundations. The City has budgeted $275,000 in City funds and $46,000 from a grant from Kane County for 2014-15 for the GAR project. The interior work covered by the Public Museum Capital Grant will include cabinetry restoration, woodwork and floor finishing, partition walls, lighting, climate control and emergency systems
The revenue for income and expe...
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