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Home My WebLink About7.3 St Raymond's Visitor Center CITY CLERK File # D[9][ZJ[(2].ffi[(2] AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: June 19, 2007 SUBJECT: St. Raymond's Visitor Center Report by John Hartnett, Heritage & Cultural Arts Supervisor ATTACHMENTS: 1) Tour Evaluations RECOMMENDATION: ~thorize Staff to purchase equipment for Visitor Center FINANCIAL STATEMENT: $12,375 Donation from the Dublin/San Ramon Women's Club DESCRIPTION: One of the City Council Preliminary Goals & Objectives for 2007- 2008 is to; Establish a Visitor Center at St. Raymond's Church. The purpose of the goal is to provide some technical improvements to St. Raymond's whichwill allow Staff to further enhance school tours as well as expand on program offerings in the future. The Dublin Heritage Center reopened its doors in August 2007 with the new exhibit, "The Journey". In September 2007, a new school tour program was designed by Staff to cover information from Dublin that is specific to the California State Board of Education History-Social Studies Content Standards. Tour Program: The school tours incorporate Dublin's History with the State Standard and utilizes the new exhibit, a video, a walking tour of the cemetery, and if time permits, hands-on history trunks. The goal of the two hour tour is to provide historical content, recall important facts and build civic pride in Dublin. Each tour adapts to the individual group's energy levels, attention span, time constants and interests. Over the past ten months, the tour program has been modified to highlight the new exhibit and an enthusiastic new volunteer group of docents have been trained to provide tours throughout the school year. "Post-tour" evaluations by teachers have provided valuable feedback and useful suggestions (Attachment 1). Teacher suggestions have been routinely incorporated to improve the museum experience. A typical school tour starts at Old St. Raymond's Church where the class is welcomed and told what they can expect. They are shown a ten minute orientation video on the history of Dublin. Next, the group goes to the Murray Schoolhouse where a docent gives them a 45 minute tour. There are eleven sections in all, COpy TO: Page 1 of2 ITEM No.M G:\COUNCIL\Agenda Statements\2007\6-I9 St. Raymond's Visitor Center.doc within the tour, beginning with the experience of New York, Westward Expansion, the Valley Before and the Murray School House. When the tour reaches the Green Store exhibit, the children sit on the floor and the docent reads a story and passes around various artifacts and samples, such as raw wool, a small spinning wheel, linen and an embroidery hoop. At the Cemetery exhibit, the class learns how they can help preserve gravesites. Then the group tours the Pioneer Cemetery. Stops are made at many of the graves of people that had been covered in the video and museum. When the tour concludes, each visitor is given a "Dublin Gazette", which is a worksheet with questions, word searches, connect the dots, and fill in the blanks on Dublin's history. Students are also given the Dublin Heritage Center Wooden Nickel as their reward. Students are invited to come back and on the return visit, they can redeem their nickel for old fashioned candy and toys in the "General Store" located in the museum. The tour is paced to provide facts without overwhelming; to spark interest, and to invite visitors to come back again and again. Visitor's Center: In February 2007, the Dublin/San Ramon Women's Club presented the City of Dublin with a donation of $12,375 for the purchase of technical equipment including a large screen television, sound system and portable lighting system. Staff has evaluated different types of equipment and related costs and is recommending the purchase of the following: . 58" Flat Screen television and DVDNCR recorder · JBL sound system including two speakers and rack mount with mixer & CD/cassette unit · Two portable light trees with four instruments per tree and color gels The television will be mounted directly above the existing altar in the Old St. Raymond's Church and will be covered by a customized white curtain at all times, when not in use. The sound mixer will be situated in the back of the church and the two speakers will be mounted on the north and south interior walls on either side of the stage. The portable light trees will be placed in front of each side of the stage during performances, such as the Winter Concerts. The improvements will blend with the existing appearance of the interior of the church. The speakers will be white and all wiring will be covered with white conduit. The work will conform to the Secretarv of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, the standard of which is to have minimal impact on the historic materials and that are reversible. Conforming to this standard will ensure that the building's status on the National Register of Historic Places is not compromised. Existing Programs and the Visitors' Center: The installation of the flat screen television will improve viewing of the orientation film now shown to classes and visitors (two teacher evaluations suggested that a larger screen would improve the student's experience). The addition of a permanent sound system and portable lights will allow for better sound quality and dramatic lighting for annual events such as the Winter Concert Series and Annual Bluegrass Concert. In addition to existing programs, Staff feels that the new technical enhancements will provide an amenity for those renting St. Raymond's as well as the means to expand program offerings in the future. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the purch~se of equipment for the St. Raymond's Visitor Center. ;Z~02 Tour Evaluation Dublin Heritage Center School Teacher Date Comments Su estions Docent Dublin Masinter, G 3/9/07 "Beautiful Museum! "Have a Scavenger Hunt E Isles Excellent information for an worksheet with questions P Harvey enrichment of what we have that students need to work studied in class." with a partner to find answers to questions." "Great follow-up to what has been taught in class." Fallon LeCheminarnt, 4/24/07 "Great, Visual" "Gather students together Bob M first before proceeding. Scheppler Don't be afraid to tell kids to be ready. Speak Louder." Fallon Kennedy,C 4/23/07 "Thank you! The Museum Eva looks qreat!" Kemenczev Fallon Hitch on, C 4/26/07 "She did really well with E Isles making the information for Training Pat the children. They really & Albert enjoyed it. .. Students will Kupferman have more knowledge of the City of Dublin. We are ~ ~ going to continue to add to this knowledge. Thank you, ~ it was areal." - > ~ ~ t) ~ S w ~ --A:.. ~ - ~ ....0 ---- \J '-.j ""--- ~ -S; ...-~ . .l School Teacher Date Comments Suggestions Docent Fallon Jakubowicz, B "This really brought our "The only room for Bob Dublin history lesson to life. improvement might be a Scheppler The remodeled Heritage larger screen for the Center is fantastic." monitor." Nielsen Agenjo, L 5/15/07 "Loved it, Glad you suggest Bob small groups. [it will] Greatly Scheppler [benefit students] Perfect and timing with curriculum." Ruth Ting Nielsen Howe, L 5/27/07 "Good job the volunteers!" "You might want to split up Scott Roach "It really helps [students] the group, so half does the Eva understand the history of church /cemetery and the Kemenczy Dublin." other half school. The building is too small for a large group." Murray Kovalensky S 5/17/07 "Fabulous presentation" E Isles Menriott, S "Meaningful information, kids made connections, appropriate vocabulary." Frederiksen Anbderson, R 5/22/07 "Excellent new facility! Bob Great information, they Scheppler [students] learn a lot about E Isles early settler's lives." Murray Herdman, J 5/18/07 "Fabulous, Very interesting!" "None!" E Isles "Our wonderful class is very (training rambunctious and you did a group great job!" "This has been a volunteers) fantastic way to bring home our lessons of Dublin ~ history, pioneers and the Gold Rush. " ~ -..t" School Teacher Date Comments Suggestions Docent Frederickson Paulus, R 5/23/07 "Part of the third grade "Not much narrative during E Isles social studies, local history, cemetery walk." (Museum) [this] provides actual "Church; include a bit of Scoot Roach museum/cemetery history like the wooden (Church experience to classroom pegs, why shutters, and Cemetery) learning." steel bars across the ceiling." Frederickson Butsuda, L 5/24/07 "The schoolhouse is "I'd like a little more E Isles wonderful!" information about the church structure and "Seeing everything in history." person cements all the learning we've done in class. I know they'll have all new questions and ideas when we get back to the classroom." Dougherty Fong, I 6/4/07 "Very informative. Love "A bigger monitor would be Bob what you did with the great" Scheppler center. Very well thought out and presented." "Thank you for a wonderful day!" Murray Fisher, D 6/5/07 "Very informative" Eva "Very useful" Kamensczy Tour provider: Excellent Time; Just right w ~ --+::-- School Teacher Date Comments Su estions Docent Dougherty Flory, B 6/6/07 Very informative "Shorten cemetery tour" E Isles Very useful (Museum) Tour provider: Excellent Scott Roach - Time: Just right ( cemetery) Murray Gleichauf, J 6/7/07 Very informative " .. .all the history and E Isles Very useful included the stories, like Tour provider: Excellent Whitey for instance, very Time: Just right well done!" "Thank you for your patience!" "Be prepared to wait for quiet before giving information! You have the right to demand respect, and what you have to say is interesting." ~ ~~ , ~