Minnesota African American Museum remains in mothballs
Six years after it was founded, a museum celebrating the history of blacks in Minnesota remains closed and at risk of losing nearly $1.4 million in state funding.
Backers of the Minnesota African American Museum said they’ve done everything required to qualify for the state grants, which are critical to the museum’s future.
“We are not giving up. I don’t care what they do,” said Shirlynn LaChapelle, the museum’s vice chair. “This means a lot. This is our history.”
The museum has taken in nearly $1.8 million from various local donors, including a $435,000 loan from founder Roxanne Givens, since 2008 and spent nearly $700,000 to renovate its planned home, a stately brick Queen Anne Victorian mansion just south of downtown Minneapolis.
Records show the museum spent nearly $25,000 for a “grand opening” in 2012. But the museum has been ensnared in a dispute with its contractor since then.
The home, yard and carriage house are in disarray, with peeling paint, exposed wires and construction materials scattered in the yard. A distressed “Summer 2011” sign sits on its front steps, and the phone is not in service.
Givens; the museum’s new president, Nekima Levy-Pounds, and new executive director Lissa Jones, declined to be interviewed for this story.
Civil rights activist Ron Edwards said he is troubled by the void the museum has left in the community.
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/259318611.html
