State history agencies prepare for changes

Historian to stay, meetings to go on after July 1 merger, heritage chief says

The Department of Arkansas Heritage will retain History Commission Director Lisa Speer when the smaller agency is melded into the department in July, heritage Director Stacy Hurst told the commission Thursday.

Hurst also said she wants the commission's seven members to continue meeting quarterly. The history agency is called a commission, and it has been overseen by a panel that is also called a commission. On July 1, the agency will be renamed the Arkansas State Archives.

Speer, the history agency's director since June 2013, "asked me whether she would be retained, and I said, 'Absolutely,'" Hurst said.

"She is the state historian and very well-qualified, and has done a great job," Hurst said of Speer, who is paid $88,749 a year. Speer previously was director of special collections and archives for Southeast Missouri State University's Kent Library from 2001-13 and worked at libraries at the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama.

Hurst said officials haven't decided where to move the history agency's offices that are now in the Multi-Agency Complex west of the state Capitol. She also said they won't make a hasty decision on that move.

The commission met Thursday for the first time since the Republican-controlled Legislature and GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved Act 3 of the brief special session that ended late last month.

Changes for the history agency were part of the 105-page measure that the House approved 62-19 and the Senate passed 19-10, despite receiving opposition from some historians on transferring the commission to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Other people opposed other aspects of the legislation, such as overhauling the law that governs the Governor's Mansion Commission, and eliminating various boards and commissions.

Act 3 transfers the History Commission from the Department of Parks and Tourism to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Also, the commission's director will serve at the pleasure of the department's director rather than the seven-member commission. Commissioners are appointed by the governor.

Commission chairman Mary Dillard of Malvern said, "we have a new home, so Stacy you want to just tell us what we can expect and what you expect of us?"

Hurst said, "Lisa and I have already talked a couple of times, and we're still trying to figure out our process, what that looks like actually and so I think by the time that this transition is over on July 1, we'll have a better understanding."

Under Act 3, the commission will be required to meet at the request of the Arkansas Heritage director at a time and place convenient to the commission, and advise and assist the department's director in the performance of the director's duties.

Hurst said she wants the commission to continue meeting on a quarterly basis because "we need your input, your expertise [and] your professional advice on all of these things."

The commission's other six members are Michael Whitmore of Rogers, Rod Soubers of Mountain Home, Michael Lindsey of Fayetteville, Robert McCarley of Little Rock, Elizabeth Robbins of Hot Springs and Robert Sherer of Little Rock, according to the commission's website.

The Arkansas History Commission was created by the General Assembly in 1905 to be the official archives of the state, responsible for collecting and preserving the source materials of its history.

The archives were in the state Capitol during its first few decades, but when the Old State House was restored, the History Commission was moved into a part of the west wing of that building in 1951, according to the commission. After becoming a part of the Parks and Tourism Department in 1971, the History Commission moved to its current location, at One Capitol Mall, in 1979.

In 2005, the commission acquired the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives in Washington in Hempstead County as its first branch location. Its second regional branch, the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives, was built in 2011 in Powhatan in Lawrence County, according to the commission's website.

In December, Hutchinson's spokesman said the governor wanted to move the History Commission from Parks and Tourism to the Arkansas Heritage Department because "it's a matter of increasing the visibility of the History Commission and its proper alignment."

The department was created in 1975 to preserve and promote Arkansas' heritage. It has a $35.1 million budget in fiscal 2016, and more than 150 authorized positions.

It oversees the Delta Cultural Center in Helena-West Helena, as well as the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Old State House Museum in Little Rock. It also coordinates the Arkansas Arts Council, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

In a memo dated Feb. 17 to directors of state agencies, offices and departments, Hutchinson said he's "committed to preserving and promoting the rich history of our state," and he told the directors to assist the history agency in its effort to preserve historical documents and turn over any historical documents not currently in use.

"Due to a persistent lack of sufficient manpower, space and resources, the commission has been unable to work comprehensively with state agencies in the preservation of records having historical value," the governor wrote in his memo. "The commission works with about 13 percent of state agencies to preserve significant historical records [and] it is my position that this is not a satisfactory percentage in an attempt to preserve Arkansas' historical documents."

In response to the governor's directive, Speer told the commission Thursday that the agency has held three record-preservation workshops for state agencies this spring and plans to hold four more from August through November.

"We have seen a significant increase in our work with state agencies," she said.

"We are now working with the Assessment Coordination Department [and] the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, and the Health Department has contacted us about a large amount of records that they want to transfer," she said.

It's been "exciting [but] a little daunting because we haven't received additional resources to do it, but it's important that we do it because those records are getting lost," Speer said. She later said the commission has 26 full-time positions with a $1.9 million budget in fiscal 2016, and two of these positions are vacant.

"We will run out of room here in this facility," she told the commission during its meeting in the Multi-Agency Complex. "Potentially, we could run out this year, and we would like to talk about offsite storage options."

The agency has about 47,000 square feet of space, Speer said.

Under Act 3, the Building Authority Division of the Department of Finance and Administration may locate and negotiate an appropriate facility for the State Archives, but the Arkansas Heritage Department "shall have final approval of the facility's location."

Sherer said he keeps hearing questions about where the commission will be moved in the future.

"There is really not anything new," Hurst said.

She said Building Authority Division Director Anne Laidlaw has had conversations with the Masonic Temple and with Stan Hastings, who owns property east of Interstate 30 and near the Woodruff House "as to the potential of locating there."

The Woodruff House was built in 1853 and is at 1017 and 1023 E. Eighth St. The Quapaw Quarter Association bought the former home of William E. Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette, in December 2014 and hopes to find a new owner for the historic structure.

Sherer said the commission's future site will need adequate parking space as well as other improvements.

"Retrofitting the facility, whatever facility we move in, whether it is commercial property or historic [property], it will have to be substantially redone to meet our archival preservation standards," he said.

Dillard said, "the best-case scenario is if we have a new building."

Hurst told the commission, "I don't anticipate that this is going to be quick decision."

She said she expects state officials to go through a well-researched process in deciding a future home for the commission.

"We'll need to look at all of these considerations that you all have mentioned, look at possible locations and costs, and then make the best decision," Hurst said.

"The governor's expressed desire is that the commission, the state archives, be more visible and more accessible. Knowing that we'll make sure that we are very through in this process. ... Your input is absolutely valued and appreciated."

Sherer noted, "We are in an age of austerity. The idea of spending a lot of money when the whole emphasis of the governor seems to be holding the line or cutting back. Those two seem to be pulling in different directions."

Sherer also said "the ideal place for the Arkansas State Archives is on the top of that hill" west of the Multi-Agency Complex.

"That ain't going to happen," Sherer said.

A Section on 06/10/2016

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