A lot of air got cleared at Monday night’s emotionally-charged meeting of the Oxford Downtown Development Authority.
The Northeast Oakland Historical Society made it clear they do not wish to move their museum.
‘The consensus is we would like to stay right in downtown,? said Society President Jerry Griffen. ‘That’s the ideal spot for us.?
DDA member and local developer Chuck Schneider made it clear that he doesn’t wish to acquire the museum building, contrary to any rumors or speculation.
‘Let me assure you, I have no, zero, interest in the museum property ? none whatsoever. Not now or ever,? he said
Members of the historical society turned out in full force to oppose Schneider’s suggestion that the museum be moved out of the historic Oxford Savings Bank building, located at the northwest corner of Washington and Burdick streets.
A Michigan Registered Historic Site, the building was constructed in 1922-23 and housed the bank until 1966. It was deeded over to the village in 1972 for use as a local historical museum (see sidebar on page 26), an institution that’s been in operation there for 35 years.
At the Dec. 17 DDA meeting, Schneider, during board member comments, suggested moving the museum to make way for some type of commercial use inside the old bank building.
‘That property is in the downtown,? he said. ‘It should be viewed (by the DDA) as any other property in the downtown ? how it can be best utilized to benefit the downtown and the community at large.?
‘I think everybody should be willing to keep an open mind and at least listen to all the thoughts,? said village President Chris Bishop, who also sits on the DDA. ‘There’s nothing wrong with people sitting around the table and talking.?
‘The intent is to try and free up some space on main street where a museum is maybe not the best idea, maybe it is,? Schneider explained. ‘I don’t know too many museums that are on the main street of a community. The Henry Ford Museum is not in downtown Dearborn nor is it in a shopping center. It’s in a unique location that is specific to that type of purpose. And that’s true of a lot of museums.?
Joette Brock, membership chair of the historical society, disagreed.
‘Most town museums are downtown and the whole reason they are downtown is so that they bring people to the community,? she said.
Schneider argued the museum’s limited hours mean it’s not really being utilized as a museum.
‘We’re this far away from being a storage facility,? he said. ‘Three hours a week is not a museum. Forty hours a week is a museum.?
It was noted by historical society members that in addition to being open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, the educational institution is also open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays during the summer months and is always available for prearranged tours and ‘special appointment? visits.
‘We would love to be open more than we are but it is run by volunteers,? Brock said.
Public and private school students, scouts, senior citizens, out-of-town visitors and out-of-state vacationers have all toured the museum.
‘Every Oxford school district second-grader comes through the museum as part of their field trips,? said Brock, who estimated that more than 1,000 second-graders have visited it.
Griffen noted some folks from Pennsylvania recently visited the museum. ‘They enjoyed it,? he said. ‘They learned about our area from pictures and so on.?
Schneider tried to make it clear that he’s ‘not anti-museum? or ‘anti-history.?
‘I have a (private) museum much bigger than the one there,? he noted.
Schneider said moving the museum could benefit it by giving it more space for everything it has plus room to expand in order to accept more donations and display bigger items.
‘They have a lot of wonderful stuff there, but unfortunately they are kind of out of space,? he said.
Finding a ‘better location? for the museum would improve the situation for everyone involved, in Schneider’s opinion.
‘The idea wasn’t to upset a lot of people,? he said. ‘The idea is to come up with maybe a better alternative for them, not something that’s going to lessen the value of the museum, but (something that’s going to) make it more enjoyable to more people.?
‘Just because some place has been some place for a long time doesn’t mean it’s the best place,? he noted.
Schneider had previously suggested the possibility of moving the museum into the former township hall at 18 W. Burdick St., currently in the process of being purchased by the village for $262,500.
But after walking through the building, he realized it won’t work.
‘It really doesn’t lend itself out very well to a museum,? said Schneider, noting it’s because the space is divided into offices. ‘It would be kind of counterproductive to go in there and reorganize that.?
Schneider felt the DDA, with input and representation from the historical society, should explore other options.
‘I think we should give some thought to what other facilities we may have available,? he said.
DDA member Pat Thomspon suggested the now vacant James Lumber on E. Burdick St. as a possible new museum location.
Schneider called this a ‘very good suggestion? and speculated that if no one wants to purchase the property, perhaps the former lumber company would be interested in donating it and taking a tax deduction.
Lack of communication between the DDA and the historical society was cited as a problem by some society members.
‘It was very, very bad form to bring it up without any contact previously with the historical society,? said Cindy Wheeler, a member of historical society. ‘If you want to have a dialogue, it should be a dialogue and it should be open. Everybody who’s involved in the situation should be informed. I wouldn’t want to read in the Leader that someone suggested that I move out of my home.?
‘Sadly, I think any conversations in the future with this historical society are already clouded by the fact that the historical society feels a great deal of distrust now,? Wheeler noted.
‘We have no idea what’s going on,? Griffen said. ‘We cannot act on rumors.?
‘This was being talked about weeks and weeks and weeks ago, and someone should have contacted the museum people and at least floated the idea or . . . involved them until it got to this point,? said DDA member Sue Bossardet.
Schneider stressed that the idea of moving the museum was merely a suggestion brought up during an open meeting.
‘This is America ? you still can suggest things, you know,? he said. ‘This is the United States.?