Hello everyone, here is a quick update on what is happening at the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center!
The new Historical/Alumni Center addition is complete! Visitors can now access the museum through the new front entrance.
The exhibits for the Historical Center are in the process of being fabricated by Split Rock Studios. The installation process is scheduled for December 2012 – February 2013. Split Rock Studios will be working on site during this time; I understand that the exhibit installation is an interesting process and invite everyone to stop over and explore the progress.
Over the past few weeks, we have moved our museum collection out of the old storage building into our new collection storage space. Sara C. our Curator/Conservator has moved into her lab space and will now begin the process of re-housing our collection in our new space.
Last week we were busy dismantling museum exhibits and moving out of the museum classroom and Collector’s Gallery, preparing for the next phase of the construction project.
This week, Phase II began! The contractors started enclosing the space to the east side of the museum that will undergo renovation. In this area we will be removing the reception desk and expanding the Camp Circle story line to chronicle the importance of childhood and adolescence among the Plains tribes. The Collector’s Gallery area will be opened up to make room for the additional exhibits. The existing entrance and bathrooms will be removed and replaced with additional gift shop space.
There is still a lot of site work and landscaping that needs to be done around the building; some of this work is in progress now and some will be delayed until next spring.
The museum will remain open to the public during this construction phase, though there will be periods of time that will require us to close.
Throughout this project we have relied heavily on assistance from our Facilities team and I would like to thank Tom, Gary, Quentin and their staff for all they have done. We have a great Facilities crew; no matter what the task is they get right after it. Thank you!
Dixie
All of the improvements and additions to the Museum sound great. However, since I am home bound and can no longer travel, I wont be able to see them. Would some kind of a pictorial record become available?
Yes, as we progress on the project we will continue to post updates with pictures so you can see the changes and eventually the completed project.