A year after the doors were said to be closed indefinitely, the U. Wyoming S.H. Knight Geological Museum still stands strong.
With little hope for the future of the museum, Director Brent Breithaupt announced last year that the last day the doors would open for this piece of the university’s past would be June 30, 2009. Now, almost a year after the doors closed, community members, students, faculty and visitors are still welcome to venture into the museum under the watchful eyes of Big Al.
Individuals who felt strongly about the museum’s closing quickly stepped into action. Soon after June 30, ‘Friends of the S.H. Knight Geological Museum’ advocacy group was formed. This non-profit group supported the decision to re-open the museum full-time, and it got the ball rolling by donating $8000 early last fall.
This initial donation soon inspired others to help crusade for one of the oldest pieces of UW culture. The city of Laramie was abuzz with Geology Museum enthusiasm, which quickly led to additional donations.
In late August 2009, the once indefinitely closed doors of the S.H. Knight Geological Museum re-opened to the public but only on a part-time basis. Without the guidance of a director, the museum hours were cut considerably, limiting open hours from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. These hours are still in effect today.
Enthusiasm for the museum is still high, and University of Wyoming supporters and alumni Brainerd and Anne Mears took the next step needed to seeing the museum re-opened. In early September 2009, the Mears established the S.H. Knight Memorial Endowment fund of $1.14 million. This money was well over the needed $50,000 required by UW President Tom Buchanan’s fund matching program. $750,000 was set aside by President Buchanan to ensure that anything donated would automatically be doubled. Since the Mears initial donation, community members and organizations have been donating constantly, ensuring that the museum’s doors will stay open for longer than anyone originally expected.
“If we can develop an endowment of about $2.5 million then the Geological Museum can have a yearly operating budget of about $100,000,” UW Geology and Geophysics Department Head Art Snoke said.
Snoke expressed that the operating cost of the museum before it closed last fall was approximately $90,000, and since budget cuts caused the museum to close, there hasn’t been money available to fully maintain and staff the facility. He also said that, unfortunately, the matching money set aside by President Buchanan is set to expire as early as Aug. 31, 2010, so donations are still greatly encouraged. Fortunately for those who are crusading for the museum, progress is being made.
“People ask about the museum. What’s been going on; why is it only part time. It seems like nothing is happening,” said Snoke. “While I don’t see us changing our operating hours much in the next few years, we’re doing a lot of other things. We’re in the process of building a new exhibit on whales right now, and we have plans for two or three more new exhibits soon.”
According to Snoke, there has been a lot happening under the surface in preparation for the future.
“The museum is far from being inactive, this year has just been a planning year,” Snoke said. “We just renovated the website, and I think we’re going to see a lot of action this next year. We’re dedicated to building the groundwork for a totally re-invented museum. It’s going to be constantly changing.”
The battle to permanently re-open the SH Knight Geological museum is still being waged by community members and diligent supporters, but as of yet the $2.5 million outlined by Snoke has not been raised. With the loss of matching funds scheduled for late this summer, the members from the Geology and Geophysics department who now staff the museum hope to have some larger donations sprout up in the next month or two. While the future of the museum was once bleak and uncertain, the reality of its re-opening has been an inspiration to those who wouldn’t stand to watch it close.