Supporters Hope to Make Natural History Museum a Reality
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2001
Joe Wills
530-898-4143
Supporters Hope to Make Natural History Museum a Reality
Supporters of the Natural History Museum at California State University, Chico are holding a gala Cinco de Mayo gathering Saturday, May 12, to highlight fund-raising efforts to build a new museum site on campus.
Saturday’s event begins at 3 p.m. and will be held at the home of Gary and Judy Sitton, members of the museum’s board of directors and founders of Bi-Tech Software in Chico. More than 200 invited guests will have dinner, enjoy Mariachi music and games, and listen to plans for the museum.
CSU, Chico President Manuel Esteban will greet guests and discuss the history of Cinco de Mayo. Biology professor Ray Barnett, museum director, will discuss the past, present and future of the museum. Beth Redmond-Jones, president of Redmond-Jones and Associates, a museum exhibit design firm in Berkeley, will speak to the audience about plans for a new exhibit site.
Board chair Garey Weibel, board member and former City Council member Sheryl Lange and Chico Mayor Dan Herbert are among the guests attending.
The museum board is hoping to build a 15,000-square-foot museum on campus near Bidwell Mansion just east of the Aymer J. Hamilton classroom building.
The fund-raising goal for the board is $5.5 million. The building is estimated to cost $2.5 million, and exhibits $2 million. An additional $1 million for a museum endowment is the final part of the fund-raising campaign. A half-million dollars has already been raised for one exhibit hall.
The museum would include two permanent exhibits: Worlds of California and Ages of North America. A hall would be reserved for travelling exhibits from other museums around the country. The permanent exhibits would feature realistic plants and animals in natural settings with interactive elements.
Other aspects of the museum would include a classroom/meeting room and a refreshment area.
Since the 1940s, the university has been acquiring specimens of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. Currently, the College of Natural Sciences has roughly 8,000 specimens.
Some specimens and other natural history displays are available to the public at various locations in Holt Hall. Tours of schoolchildren are common. To receive more information about the museum, call 898-5356 or go to the museum website.
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