MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — As Charlotte City Council is just days away from a vote for it's next fiscal budget, the Charlotte Museum of History, the city's oldest and largest museum, said its request for funding has been denied yet again.
“This is why we’re pleading with the city to hear our request and invest in us the way they have everyone else.”, the museum's president and CEO Terri White told WCNC Charlotte’s Colin Mayfield.
White has been at the helm of the Charlotte Museum of History in east Charlotte for more than two years. Over the course of her tenure and for more than two decades, she said the museum’s leadership has pleaded with the city to add the museum to a list of annual arts organizations supported by city funds.
“Over the last 3 years, we’ve seen that our peers have received 25% to 40% other their annual revenue from the arts organization dedicated funds," White added.
White said for the next fiscal year, $650,000 has been budgeted to other peer museums and organizations. For the Charlotte Museum of History, that money would mean providing more diverse historical programming, maintenance needs and technological upgrades. Most of the facilities haven’t been updated since 1999.
“To not get that funding means a lot of our repairs and maintenance that needs to be done has to get delayed, and this is every year," White lamented.
She said she even gave Charlotte’s art officer a detailed tour to show how they would spend the money and why they need it, all to no avail.
“We’re getting close to the wire here, and we have done everything everyone has asked of us to prove that we are fiscally responsible," White explained. "Don’t forget, we’re the place where a small business who’s not large enough to work with Bank of America can learn how to grow in a good environment. When you invest in us, it goes immediately into our community, and we have the records to prove that.”
The Charlotte Museum of History’s annual budget is $1.4 million.
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It's been able to survive this long on partnerships, grants and admissions, but White believes the museum is in unprecedented times as budget constraints are dire.
The full council will vote on list of annual arts organizations supported by city funds during the budget vote on June 10.
WCNC Charlotte called and emailed a number of council members to ask about this, but none of them replied by the publishing of this article.
Here are some stories WCNC Charlotte has covered to give examples of the museum's most recent programming:
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