09/11/1996 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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Town Museum (see Map 5) Existing Facilities The Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum, located on 4.14 Main Street (Route 130), is a historical structure, housed in a building known as the Mabel Avant House. Although different sources claim different dates for actual construction (1793 vs. c.1830), it nonetheless, represents a very important landmark from the Town's historical past. s � f Led by the dedicated work of Amelia Peters Bingham and volunteers from the Air Force Base, the Avant House was renovated and the Museum dedicated in 1973. The original collection was inventoried by Paul Mills in 1970. Unfortunately, during the 1970's land court case, amidst the bad relations between the Tribal Council and the town government, a non-native Museum Director was hired. Controversy surrounding this decision led to the closing of the Museum for a number of years. In October, 1995, Town Meeting unanimously approved a request from the Selectmen to negotiate a 99-year lease with the Wampanoag Tribal Council for the museum. once this lease agreement is complete, the tribal council will be in charge of the daily operation of this facility. The size of this building is approximately 1,250 square feet. Housed here are artifacts from the Wampanoag past, showing the way of life in Mashpee that continued to the early ; part of this century. Among the many artifacts found at the Indian Museum include: antique native furniture; an old wood ballot box, arrowheads; cranberry scoops and a measure; Indian dress; Indian drum; Indian dolls; murals and paintings of prominent Wampanoags, as well as traditional scenes in the daily Lif e of Mashpee; old newspapers and books; regalia outfits; small traditional baskets; stone tools; stuffed examples of the animals found in Mashpee; and various native rocks and shells. Currently the Museum employes five tourguides, which are funded by the Eastern Massachusetts Urban League. Two guides are present during s open the Museum' en hours. While the structure has received general maintenance over theg ears, its age and Y construction have created problems which must be addressed through renovation. Most notable are the need for an improved foundation and stabilization of the floor on the first level. The floor in the front room is cracked and sinking some in spots. A cabinet had to P be braced so it would not tip over. The building sills are in very bad condition and the floor joists are deteriorated. An engineering firm looked at this building and said it should be condemned. Of additional concern is the size of the building for housing Museum's artifacts. Display and office space is extremely cramped and it is anticipated that an addition will be required to successfully operate a museum at this facility. Improvements to the Museum are now one step closer to reality with the hiring of Taylor, MacDougall, Burns, of Boston to design the renovation and addition. The $15,000 contract awarded to this firm by the Board of Selectmen will be funded with $8,000 from the museum account and $7,000 from the Town's legal, engineeringand consulting account. This project represents an important opportunity for the Town and Tribal Council to work together. Since this project is just entering the design phase, it is unknown what the exact plans are going to look like. However, there are a number of items critical toreserve the integrity p g y Of the Avant House. It appears that the overall project will be done in two phases: Phase I 17