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The City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved accepting a $1 million donation from the Stewart Family Foundation for an expansion of the Longmont Museum.
The gift will help jump start a five year capital improvement plan that will begin in this spring with the goal of generating $20 million for the museum, said Museum Director Kim Manajek.
The Stewart family are longtime friends of the museum and are dedicated to seeing it grow, Manajek said.
“They are committed to seeing us expand the museum,” she said. “We are so indebted to them and all the support they have shown us.” The museum’s Stewart Auditorium is named after the Stewart family.
The money raised through the capital campaign will be used to expand the museum, adding galleries, including a dedicated children’s gallery, a renovated courtyard, an amenities café and a rooftop event space, Manajek said.
She hopes the expansion work will begin as early as next year.
The museum is also hoping to hear in April from the National Endowment for the Humanities on its request for a $1 million grant, Manajek said.
City councilor Tim Waters said Tuesday night that he wants the city to express its gratitude to the Stewart Foundation by using the $900,000 allocated to the city from the recent sale of the Denver Broncos and a portion of oil and gas revenues to fund a $2 million expansion of the museum’s chidlrens’ gallery.
Waters said he will propose the funding allocation at the council’s next regular meeting on Nov. 29.
