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Gov. Bill Haslam will join corporate leaders at the National Civil Rights Museum at 3 p.m. today for an announcement expected to involve the state's approval last May of a $2 million contribution in connection with the museum's ongoing renovation plans.
Museum spokesmen would not comment on the announcement Monday, and the governor's office did not return a telephone call. The Memphis stop is one of several West Tennessee stops on the governor's schedule.
The museum is in the process of raising $20 million to $25 million for extensive redesign and updating of exhibits and exhibit space in the museum, which has not been renovated since it opened in 1991.
While raising money for that, it also is attempting to raise money to meet a three-for-one challenge grant of $750,000 announced last year by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Much of the renovation project has been delayed to avoid interruptions during the museum's 20th anniversary.
Much of the work, so far, has focused on behind-the-scenes changes in museum storage areas. Among the most noticeable changes later will be a new museum entrance that opens up the cramped lobby into a dramatic two-story entry with a curving stairway to the second floor. Interior walls on the second floor would be removed and replaced with balconies overlooking the ground floor. Interactive technology also will be introduced to the museum courtyard and inside the museum to help guide visitors.
Simultaneous efforts to raise money for structural redesign, interactive technology and raising money to meet the challenge grant "means that we have to be more creative about finding funding sources," said Gwen Harmon, director of governmental and community affairs for the museum.
