Updated 6:33 p.m. June 18 with statement from Don Boulton.
The Chapel Hill Museum Executive Board of Trustees announced that the museum will be closing in light of not getting its requested funding from the town.
Don Boulton, Co-Chairman of the Chapel Hill Museum’s Board of Trustees, said the privately owned Museum had been working with the town in a partnership for the last two years and hoped to move toward town ownership – but the town made it clear that it was not interested.
“We understand that the town does not wish to have a musuem. So that’s where we say, ‘okay, we need to close,’” Boulton said.
The museum’s allocated funding of $34,250, less than 1 percent of the Town’s annual budget, is not enough for upkeep and utilities, according to a press release.
If the town does not change its mind regarding ownership, Boulton said, it will take three to five months to close.
The Board of Trustees is meeting to discuss how it will go about closing it down.
“This isn’t something where you just say, ‘today we close.’ It took years to develop,” Boulton said.
The museum boasts exhibits on the town’s history, including a history of UNC, the fire department and Franklin Street. The museum also hosted educational programs like fire safety, teaching more than 75,000 local children in its history, Boulton said.
