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Home My WebLink About8.1 Heritage Programming Updates tifi��P�� //1 � t 1 '`�i��'111 STAFF REPORT : ��f��'� HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION DATE: December 10, 2015 TO: Honorable Chair and Commissioners � FROM: Tegan McLane, Cultural Arts and Heritage ' � �� `� - , � -! � - Manager r,! SUBJECT: Heritage Progran�uning Updates By: Tegan McLane, Cultural Art.r and Heritage Manager EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In line with a national trend for historic houses and local history museums, the Dublin Heritage Park and Museums have experienced a decline in visitation in the past few years. Based on examples of museums that are successfully bucking the trend, Staff successfully piloted interpretive changes — including more self- directed and hands-on history experiences — this fall during the Harvest Festival and Ghosts of Dublin event. Staff is now expanding these changes, which are designed to have broadex community appeal and offer more flexible museum experiences. Staff will present a report detailing changes planned for the xemainder of this fiscal year. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None. RECOMMENDATION: Receive the report. DESCRIPTION: Visitor attendance at Dublin's Heritage Park and Museums has dropped noticeably since the initial enthusiasm for the addition of the Kolb House and barns. The facilities curxently draw an estimated 5,435 visitors a year, down from its peak in 2012 of 7,935. Attendance is not keeping pace with Dublin's population growth. This is consistent with findings that museum attendance has dropped nationwide. A 2013 survey from the National Endowment for the Arts revealed that 83% of reporting institutions saw flat or declining attendance trom 2009 to 2013. In response to declining attendance, Staff has been actively researching successful programs elsewhere in the ' country that are maintaining or increasing attendance. The Hughes Ranch House at Cape Blanco, Oregon, ITEM NO: 8.1 . eliminated its guided tour to create a more welcoming environment for visitors. The Tenement Museum in Manhattan,Drayton Hall in South Carolina, and Hempstead House in Sands Point,New York, have achieved success by moving beyond inventories of the family and their possessions into discussions of the larger historical context in which the family lived. Discussions of special topics, hands-on activities, effective multi- media experiences and collaborations with local arts groups help to meet unique community needs and make these sites relevant to wider audiences. Heritage Staff is incorporating some of these new techniques where apptopriate. � Kolb House Reinterpretation Based on changing public preferences for historic houses that look more "lived in" and exhibits that tell a story, rather than simply displaying period memorabilia, Staff experimented with new displays at the Kolb House this fall. The back porch was arranged as if family members had just stepped away from their morning harvest-time chores of canning tomatoes and doing laundry. Harold and Elsie's room, which serves as the Kolb House's main entrance, was arranged to depict the family's evening pastimes, such as mother Elsie's Halloween costume sewing project. The kitchen table was set for a traditional breakfast of soft boiled eggs and oatmeal. �dditional efforts at the Kolb House will include Schanging displays seasonally to interpret farm life on the Kolb Ranch from 1938 to 1958 and Kolb family traditions. Senior facility attendants and volunteers will be trained to provide interpretation throughout the house and help visitors better understand and relate to the lives of the Kolb family members. New, more flexible tour scripting is being developed to replace the fixed tour script docents had used for many years. The new scripting will allow Staff and volunteers the ability to focus on aspects that resonate most with them and to tailor interpretive comments to the interests and attention spans of the visitors. Self-Guided Tours Because Dublin's Heritage Park and Museums are open during daylight hours year-round and visitor attendance is unpredictable, Staff and volunteers are developing a self-guided walking tour brochure that will allow those who visit, when the museum is closed, to explore the grounds at their own pace. The printed brochuxe will identify points of historical interest throughout the park and in the surrounding neighborhood. Staff is also exploring the possibility of adding a digital version that visitors can access on their cell phones. Kolb Ranch Truck Dublin has been offered, and plans to formally accept in February 2016, Carol Kolb Strom's donation of the Kolb Ranch Truck, a beautifully restored 1929 Model A Truck, which was used by her father, Harold Kolb, for daily ranch choxes and weekly trips to market until the 1960s. The vintage vehicle will make its inaugural appearance in the St. Patrick's Day Parade and at the St. Patrick's Day Festival. The Ciry plans to display the Kolb Truck at various special events and public functions and incorporate it into Heritage Park and Museums programs. This iconic truck provides a unique opportunity to tell the story of Dublin's authentic farming heritage and help residents and visitors connect with the past. Other Planned Improvements Funds have been included in the budget for signage and outdoor improvements at Heritage Park. The project will included attractive, functional way-finding signs designed to help park visitors successfully orient themselves and navigate the park; outdoor interpretive signs to allow visitors to better understand and I connect with specific historic points of interest throughout the park and suxrounding neighborhood; and Hay � Barn exhibits that will provide visitors outdoor interpretation of life on the Kolb Ranch. i � The City has also applied for funding from the California Cultural Historical Endowment which, if received, � would enable construction of additional interpxetive signage; four outdoor interpretive stations, where ' volunteers or Staff could demonstrate hands-on history activities; an information kiosk to provide materials � 2of3 i r i I f during hours the museum is closed; and a "farm yard" that would allow visitors,including school tour groups, to try garden chores. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: None. ATTACH M ENTS: None. 3 of 3