GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Public Museum received $1 million dollars from the Michigan Legislature to help renovate its existing Community Archives and Research Center.
In a ceremony Monday several lawmakers, including State Senator Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), State Representative Kristian Grant (D-Grand Rapids), and State Senator Mark Huizenga (R-Grand Rapids), presented a check to the museum.
The money will kick-start a $3.75 million project to redevelop part of the archive building on Washington Street into a space better suited for public access. Currently the space is not used, but it will be transformed into an area that allows public access.
Right now the archives can only be accessed by appointment, but the facility is not set up to handle study of the more than a quarter million artifacts.
"I have wanted to do something like this since I took this job," said Museum President Dale Robertson. "Really, in 2008 we begin to break museum rules, unwritten rules, really by allowing public access into our collections, and through that, how it has been embraced by the community, particularly by those interested in more in depth studies."
The Community Archives and Research Center houses roughly 95 percent of the museum's collection.
"The Grand Rapids Public Museum archives and collections are broad," said Robertson. "It is history, science and culture. So what I often say is, what are you interested in? Because we've probably got it. So it's from natural science rocks into taxidermy to automobiles to a 10,000 piece clothing collection to arguably the largest furniture collection in the nation."
The building sits behind the original museum space, which is now the Grand Rapids Museum School.
It also serves as space for the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County to house their archives.
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