NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1981 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 1036

SENATE BILL 398

 

 

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MUSEUM SERVICE BRANCH OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF HISTORY IN OLD FORT.

 

Whereas, financially stable, educationally oriented, community history museums are vital to the effective preservation, interpretation, and promotion of State and local history; and

Whereas, community history museums, located throughout North Carolina, are conscious of their potential and are actively seeking professional assistance in achieving this end; and

Whereas, most community history museums lack sufficient funds to obtain commercial consultation or technical services; and

Whereas, most community history museums are operated by enthusiastic, if untrained, volunteers who know little about the problems of artifact preservation or the creation of educational exhibitions; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Museum of History is responsible for and does, to the degree possible, assist community history museums in all phases of museum operations; and

Whereas, this assistance, to be effective, is needed on a regular basis, a level of service the North Carolina Museum of History currently cannot offer due to a lack of staff and funds; and

Whereas, a decentralized, regionally based, assistance program would more effectively meet the needs of community history museums; and

Whereas, a decentralized, regionally based, assistance program would also be more economical to operate given the length and breadth of North Carolina, the continuing rise in travel costs, and the increasing need to conserve petroleum; and

Whereas, an effective assistance program can be established in the State for community museums by establishing four service branches of the North Carolina Museum of History: one each to be located in the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest regions of North Carolina; and

Whereas, the Mountain Gateway Museum, located in Old Fort, would be an excellent location for the service branch; and

Whereas, the board of Old Fort Historic Site, Inc., owner of the Mountain Gateway Museum, has expressed its willingness to transfer all property, both real and personal, held by Old Fort Historic Site, Inc., to the State for the purpose of establishing the Mountain Gateway Museum as the service branch of the North Carolina Museum of History; and

Whereas, utilization of the facilities of the Mountain Gateway Museum would significantly reduce the initial costs of establishing a service branch thus enabling the North Carolina Museum of History to increase its services to the citizens of southwest North Carolina and region's visitors; Now, therefore,

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Cultural Resources the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for fiscal year 1981-82 for operating and maintaining a service branch of the North Carolina Museum of History to be located at the Mountain Gateway Museum, Old Fort, North Carolina.

Sec. 2. That the above appropriations be dependent on the duly constituted legal authority of Old Fort Historic Site, Inc., Old Fort, North Carolina, turning over to the State of North Carolina all property both real and personal now owned by Old Fort Historic Site, Inc., to become the absolute property of the State.

Sec. 3. It is the intention of the General Assembly that if the foregoing conditions are met, the State of North Carolina shall accept the said property for a museum service branch of the North Carolina Museum of History, Division of Archives and History, Department of Cultural Resources.

Sec. 4. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 5. This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 10th day of October, 1981.