All seems as it should be in front of the
James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History. Bronze wolves stalk a bronze moose on the path to the front door, and above the door, an immense American bison is carved in relief on the limestone facade, along with the museum's name.
But behind that facade, the 70-year-old building on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus is suffering from old age, according to museum spokesman Martin Moen. Gallery ceilings lower than the current industry standard make installation of many traveling exhibits difficult or impossible. The space for such exhibits is only 3,000 square feet, a bare minimum. Air conditioning in the 1960s-era addition is on its last legs; the original 1940 building has none.
A solution--constructing a new building for the museum on the university's St. Paul campus--has been in the works for nearly 15 years. Fundraising for the $39.5 million building began in 2001. Some of the $10 million raised so far went toward design work and construction drawing for a new facility at the southwest corner of Larpenteur and Cleveland avenues.
But state funding for the shovel-ready project has twice fallen victim to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto pen, and last year the university decided to give the proposal a breather. The Board of Regents will decide this year whether to include the Bell again in the university's funding request next legislative session.
In the meantime, the state's only natural history museum continues drawing 60,000 visitors per year. On exhibit this summer are works by Francis Jacques, the Aitken, Minn.-born artist who painted dioramas for the Bell and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Part of the cost of the St. Paul museum will be the careful removal of some of Jacques' murals for re-installation in the new space.
Source: Martin Moen, Bell Museum
Writer: Chris Steller