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Civil War museum leaving Spotsylvania for the city
November 4, 2009 12:36 am
By DAN TELVOCK
Spotsylvania County is about to lose its only Civil War museum.
Terry Thomann, director of the Civil War Life museum, said yesterday that he plans to close the attraction in the Southpoint I center and in two weeks open a store at 829 Caroline St., in Fredericksburg to sell Civil War-related books, souvenirs, T-shirts and gifts.
He plans to eventually open a full-scale museum for his Civil War artifacts and a research center in the city by 2011, to replace his facility in the Spotsylvania Visitors Center off U.S. 1 near Massaponax.
The Civil War Life Museum's move comes almost two years after Thomann created a nonprofit foundation in hopes of raising $12 million for a new museum at the W.J. Vakos Courthouse Village development. Thomann said the foundation will continue to raise money for the museum in the city.
"The support that we had anticipated and expected from the county for the new museum just really never materialized," Thomann said. "All we ever heard was 'Well, we don't have any money.' A project like this really requires some community involvement."
Vakos said yesterday that he is disappointed with Thomann's decision, but he hopes to partner with the county to lure another museum to his development at Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Thomann's decision could open the door for S. Waite Rawls III, the executive director of the Museum of the Confederacy, to rekindle talks with Spotsylvania officials.
This summer, the Richmond-based Museum of the Confederacy announced it was looking at space in Fredericksburg after plans to build near or on the Chancellorsville battlefield in Spotsylvania didn't gain much steam.
Rawls said this summer that he is focusing on a satellite museum at Appomattox, and then he will look at options in Fredericksburg and Fort Monroe. He said building a museum in Spotsylvania County was still an option.
Supervisor Hap Connors was surprised that Thomann had already made a decision. He said the county for eight years paid the rent for Thomann's museum at the Visitors Center, including $61,995 this fiscal year.
"We've invested close to $600,000 in his museum with free rent and we're on track to work with him and the Vakos company to build a museum at Courthouse [Village]," Connors said. "The next thing I know he bails out."
Thomann said he is running out of time if he is going to have a new museum open by the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011. He said he met with City Councilman Matt Kelly a month ago to discuss a Fredericksburg option.
Kelly said Thomann originally asked about the vacant Clairborne's restaurant at the downtown train station.
Thomann said he has signed a lease for 829 Caroline St., which was formerly Fredericksburg Historical Prints.
The first phase of his city plan is opening a store there. The second phase will be finding a location for a full-scale museum that will include exhibits, a Civil War Life 3-D theater and a working tintype studio with wet-plate photographs.
The third phase will be a research center.
Thomann said he will establish a Capital Committee to provide funding for the project, which recently received a $150,000 planning grant from the federal government.
The Civil War Life Museum attracts about 10,000 visitors a year, Thomann said. But that number has decreased over the past three years.
"This location has never been a really good one," Thomann said of the free space in Spotsylvania. "We just don't seem to get a lot of people come in here. You get lots and lots of people going to downtown Fredericksburg."
civilwarlife.org
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
Copyright 2009 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.
Online at: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...1042009/505219
November 4, 2009 12:36 am
By DAN TELVOCK
Spotsylvania County is about to lose its only Civil War museum.
Terry Thomann, director of the Civil War Life museum, said yesterday that he plans to close the attraction in the Southpoint I center and in two weeks open a store at 829 Caroline St., in Fredericksburg to sell Civil War-related books, souvenirs, T-shirts and gifts.
He plans to eventually open a full-scale museum for his Civil War artifacts and a research center in the city by 2011, to replace his facility in the Spotsylvania Visitors Center off U.S. 1 near Massaponax.
The Civil War Life Museum's move comes almost two years after Thomann created a nonprofit foundation in hopes of raising $12 million for a new museum at the W.J. Vakos Courthouse Village development. Thomann said the foundation will continue to raise money for the museum in the city.
"The support that we had anticipated and expected from the county for the new museum just really never materialized," Thomann said. "All we ever heard was 'Well, we don't have any money.' A project like this really requires some community involvement."
Vakos said yesterday that he is disappointed with Thomann's decision, but he hopes to partner with the county to lure another museum to his development at Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Thomann's decision could open the door for S. Waite Rawls III, the executive director of the Museum of the Confederacy, to rekindle talks with Spotsylvania officials.
This summer, the Richmond-based Museum of the Confederacy announced it was looking at space in Fredericksburg after plans to build near or on the Chancellorsville battlefield in Spotsylvania didn't gain much steam.
Rawls said this summer that he is focusing on a satellite museum at Appomattox, and then he will look at options in Fredericksburg and Fort Monroe. He said building a museum in Spotsylvania County was still an option.
Supervisor Hap Connors was surprised that Thomann had already made a decision. He said the county for eight years paid the rent for Thomann's museum at the Visitors Center, including $61,995 this fiscal year.
"We've invested close to $600,000 in his museum with free rent and we're on track to work with him and the Vakos company to build a museum at Courthouse [Village]," Connors said. "The next thing I know he bails out."
Thomann said he is running out of time if he is going to have a new museum open by the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011. He said he met with City Councilman Matt Kelly a month ago to discuss a Fredericksburg option.
Kelly said Thomann originally asked about the vacant Clairborne's restaurant at the downtown train station.
Thomann said he has signed a lease for 829 Caroline St., which was formerly Fredericksburg Historical Prints.
The first phase of his city plan is opening a store there. The second phase will be finding a location for a full-scale museum that will include exhibits, a Civil War Life 3-D theater and a working tintype studio with wet-plate photographs.
The third phase will be a research center.
Thomann said he will establish a Capital Committee to provide funding for the project, which recently received a $150,000 planning grant from the federal government.
The Civil War Life Museum attracts about 10,000 visitors a year, Thomann said. But that number has decreased over the past three years.
"This location has never been a really good one," Thomann said of the free space in Spotsylvania. "We just don't seem to get a lot of people come in here. You get lots and lots of people going to downtown Fredericksburg."
civilwarlife.org
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
Copyright 2009 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.
Online at: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...1042009/505219
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