In Support of the Seward community Library Museum

Posted on: October 2, 2009 | voteyesyes | Comments Off | Print Article | Rate Post:

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By Jonathan Sewall & Bev Dunham.

We are in support of the Seward community Library Museum project and encourage the support of voters for Advisory Proposition 2 and Bond Prop. 3 on the October 6 city ballot that will make it possible. That said, a little personal history leading to that support: 

Jonathan: My family came to Seward in 1976.  Just getting established, we were too broke to go to the movies often. So we took advantage of the films shown at the library basement, seeing “Jewel of the Nile” many times. We continue to use the library and are pleased with the growth of its services. However, we are bothered by its increasing shortage of space. A collection of old periodicals belonging to the library and Alaska Nellie memorabilia destined for the museum are being cared for by local individuals until they can be accommodated at the new facility.

Additional space and more favorable conditions for the collections of both are crucial.

Bev: I came to Seward in 1946. The library was in the basement of the bank. Space was cramped, dark and dreary, but lovingly tended by the community. In 1963 it moved to its present location, but soon grew out of that space. An addition was built in the late 1960’s, funded through Seward’s share of Alaska’s Purchase Centennial project. In 1976 the library was endowed with a half million dollars from the estate of Viola Swetmann and became a city department in 1989. 

Resurrection Bay Historical Society incorporated in 1965 and began receiving donations of photos, documents, collections and artifacts. Its museum operated out of the city hall basement. It got a home of its own in 1985. Renovation of that building, to accommodate the museum as well as the Senior and Teen Centers, was paid for by a bond issue. The move was positive, but conditions at the museum are not ideal for protection of artifacts. Sometimes access to on-loan traveling exhibits has been denied for lack of humidity control and other problems. The new facility will provide safe conditions for both library and museum and free up present museum space for other uses. 

The project was selected in 2003 as a Centennial Legacy Project following several public hearings revealing a desire for a multi-use facility to benefit local people year-around. The city donated the site, thus providing part of the in-kind participation needed to secure matching grants. Donations in support of the library museum of   over $1 million have been secured. With passage of the propositions the project will be eligible for government and private grant funding. 

The advisory Prop. 2, a half-percent sales tax increase, would pay for the Prop. 3 bond debt. The library and museum are used by those outside the city limits and by visitors, as well as townspeople, so this plan insures the fairest way to pay for the new facility. It is hoped the project can be completed in 2012, our “second centennial”, the 100th anniversary of Seward’s incorporation as a city. We’ll see you at the polls.
(Jonathan Sewall is chairperson of the Political Action Committee Yes Yes Library Museum) 

Posted with permission by the Vote Yes Yes Library Museum Committee, PO Box 722, Seward, AK  99664

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