NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
7 July 2003

LONG-RANGE NATIONAL MUSEUM PROJECTS ADVANCE

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today said the long-range plan to create five national museums in Harrisburg continues.

Two of the museums have already opened—the National Civil War Museum, which is the largest in the world related to the American Civil War, and the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum.

Future projects will include the National Sports Hall of Fame, to be built on City Island, the National Museum of African American History, on the edge of downtown, and the National Museum of the Old West, to be sited in Reservoir Park. The first two are expected to be underway in the next twelve to fourteen months and the fifth and final facility by 2006.

Reed said during the current era, the city has seen to the creation of an array of facilities, including the restoration of the city park system, Riverside Stadium, Skyline Sports Complex, Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, Danzante Cultural Center, the Hilton Hotel and Towers, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Midtown Cinema and others.

Each and all of the facilities are part of the broader, overall economic development initiatives of Harrisburg, which have included even greater sums expended on housing, commercial and industrial development.

Reed noted that tourism is the second largest industry in both the state and region, but that “ten to fifteen and twenty years ago, Harrisburg most assuredly was not a point of destination for tourists, even though in the region they were spending $650 million per year and responsible for over 15,000 jobs. Harrisburg was long left out of this market.

“By creating a critical mass of national class facilities in Harrisburg, including the five national museums, it bolsters the local economy for the long-term and provides local residents with exceptional opportunities not found in most other communities,” the Mayor said.

Funding for the remaining three museums will come from multiple sources, including anticipated state help in covering 50% of each projects costs. The city will be required under state law to match those state funds, which gets accomplished through local and private funds. Since state money can only be spent on “bricks and mortar,” each project’s soft costs—such as for engineering, design and construc-tion management—and for artifacts, must be covered by local and private monies.

The effort to fulfill the 50% local matching funds has been on-going for years, since fiscal constraints prevent all the projects from proceeding simultaneously.

“For Harrisburg to survive and thrive in the 21st Century, it must think and act boldly, not just in the reform of public education and further advancing economic and tourist development, but in creating the facilities and space that redefine Harrisburg and its future. It is not enough to be parochial or think the status quo is acceptable. The rest of the world will pass us by and the best oppor-tunities will go elsewhere,” Reed said.

He said the museums will be interactive educational centers that tell “the extraordinary history of this nation in exciting ways that inspire, inform and appeal to every generation.”

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