Joplin museum director Q&A

Brad Belk, the director for the Joplin (Mo.) Museum Complex, answered questions from Joplin Globe readers about his proposal for a one-sixth-cent sales tax to move the museum and its contents to historic Memorial Hall.

Most of the questions are worth perusing, but his answer from a person who asked why the historic railroad depot wasn’t being considered as a possible museum site is worth passing on here:

We feel we can maximize our space at 50,000 square feet out of Memorial Hall, and the size of the Union Depot is not nearly that large. The building environment is extremely questionable. We know there has been a perpetual body of water in the basement for at least the last 15 years. The building has been exposed to the elements way too long. The flat roof is also not good.

We feel even though there has been a feasibility study, which has never been revealed and would be stale now because additional damage has occurred, that the water along the rebar would have detrimental effects on the building and the stability of the building. Therefore, we feel the cost to repair just the shell would be a fortune, let alone what we would have to do to make it exhibit space. Then we would need to add an additional building to it to get the square footage we are ultimately needing.

Belk’s answer reaffirms my feeling that the depot is too far gone structurally to be a viable option as a museum. The fact the depot has less space than Memorial Hall also should be a consideration.

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