FORT SMITH -- The president of the U.S. Marshals Museum announced Thursday the museum will open Sept. 24, 2019, the 230th anniversary of the country's oldest law enforcement agency.
Patrick Weeks said during a meeting of the museum's executive committee site work followed by construction of the 50,000-square-foot U.S. Marshals Service's national museum will begin in April.
"I'm pretty fired up because the time is now," Weeks said, invoking the museum's new motto, The Time is Now. "It's time for the community to re-energize about the project because it's going to be the cornerstone for economic redevelopment in downtown Fort Smith."
Work on architectural and exhibit designs are underway. Weeks said the construction, exhibit design, landscaping and site work are estimated to cost $33.8 million, up from the initial 2009 estimate of $25.3 million. Inflation and additional site work are the reasons for the increased cost, he said.
The total project cost of $58.6 million is comprised of the construction cost plus $12.3 million for exhibits; a $4 million endowment; $2 million for furniture, fixtures and equipment; about $3 million for contingencies; and $3.5 million for first-year operating expenses.
The museum will be built on the banks of the Arkansas River near downtown Fort Smith. It will include three permanent exhibit galleries, a temporary exhibit gallery, the Samuel M. Sicard Hall of Honor to honor those killed in the line of duty and a National Learning Center.
Weeks said the museum has about 500 items in its collection, ranging from a pistol that belonged to famed Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves to part of a girder from the World Trade Center that was destroyed Sept. 11, 2001. Most recently, the museum received a shipment of 120 items in August from the Marshals Service from various operations of the 1970s and 1980s.
Museum Vice President for Development Alice Alt told committee members about fundraising and other promotional events that will start in the next month. Among them are a corporate downtown campaign with a committee that includes representatives of OK Foods, ArcBest Corp. and Rheem Manufacturing, and a crowdsourcing campaign.
"The crowdsourcing campaign will start on Giving Tuesday [Nov. 29]," Alt said. "That will also allow those who can't write $10 million checks the opportunity to give to us."
The museum will increase its advertising on social media and Internet sites as well as in print, radio and television, she said.
One of the ads, a 30-second spot, will feature narration by actor Kevin Costner, Alt said.
NW News on 10/28/2016