Looking Ahead to 2027: Setting a Vision

What were the top goals for passing the levy in 2022?

We’re asking for continued funds for the same sort of projects: capital, continuing maintenance, operational, that sort of thing. If the levy were renewed, then from 2022 to 2027, we’d be focusing on:

• Tuckpointing our towers
• Gutter System Maintenance
• Roof Repairs
• Glass Entrance Replacement
  • The ground has settled at our north & south entrances in the middle of the building and as a result water leaks into our glass vestibules. They also decided on a flat, square roof for those vestibules while the building was being fixed up 20 years ago and that turned out to be a terrible design decision.
• Fixing the bricks on the North Market Street road
• Patching our concrete sidewalks
• Upgrade our HVAC humidifiers (we already worked on HVAC for 2017-2022)
  • It’s important to be able to control temperature and humidity when it comes to artifacts. If it’s too dry, then artifacts can become brittle and fragile as a result. (E.g., paintings do not enjoy low humidity environments–that paint can crack!) If it’s too humid, then artifacts can become ideal habitats for mold. Fluctuations in humidity means that perfectly flat photos can curl and warp over time. Not good for our collections!
• Resurface & repair our parking lot
• Replace office lighting with LED — We’re always looking for more ways to be energy efficient
• Replace awnings
• Other operating costs like utilities, maintenance contracts, building insurance, routine repair & maintenance, labor costs for that building maintenance & repair.
• $500,000 (15% of total amount) would be for other operating expenses, which include updating the technology in our exhibits (e.g., move to smart TVs with USBs from clunkier TV boxes with DVD players attached) and refilming some of our 20-year-old footage so that it’s at the very least HD/1080p.

What was the process for determining these goals?

Sometimes you don’t need to ask for a sign, the sign finds you. We had some mortar fall on a woman while she was walking outside our building. We currently have those offending mortar pieces in our administrative office on the east end of the building. Tuckpointing those towers is a priority for us in 2022. Anyone with a stone or brick house knows how important mortar joints are to the structural integrity of a wall. If this renewal is passed, this would be a priority capital project for us because we cannot chance further structural degradation to those towers.

What will be the process for checking in on the completion of those goals over the next 5 years?

In the past five years, we focused on advertising what we did with levy funds through social media (specifically, Facebook) and through our quarterly newsletter, which gets sent out to members, volunteers, the board, and other stakeholders. It’s important for us to be upfront about how taxpayers help us maintain the building through our levy and what that upkeep looks like. We’re hoping that the continuing support of the Heritage Center Levy Committee can continue to shine a light on our activity by centralizing that information.

What will be the investment for taxpayers?

We’re going for a straight renewal, so if voters would like to continue to support us in maintaining the building, they’d actually be paying less for the next five years than they have these past five. They paid 87 cents a month or $10.44 a year per $100,000 home to help us maintain the building. Well, since we’re going for a straight renewal, that’s come down to 80 cents a month or $9.60 a year per $100,000 home.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our community?

We’re so thankful that Clark Countians are dedicated to preserving this historical site and the historic artifacts within. While gutters don’t make for riveting renovations, at the end of the day we’re looking to improve the guest experience at our museum and at other organizations within our building.