I get it. You are all mad, perched there on your keyboards, mad at the idea that the city is no longer willing to pay to keep the lights on at the Ferguson Home Museum.
The city has just barely gotten started on its work to run like a business, which cities should. And a museum, while vitally important to the community, is not a money-making undertaking. A golf course makes money. A city aquatic center makes money. Even an airport pays its own way.
I love the Ferguson. I want its future secure for the next 120-odd years. But the city can’t – and won’t – continue to foot the bill. We are on our own. That ship has sailed, just like the city has been telling us it would since the new board took over the museum.
I don’t want to hear that the city could afford it if only it hadn’t built the Zona Verde house. Horsefeathers. When the home sells, it will have cost the city nothing. And it is a new place for a family to live. The cost of operating the museum will continue as long as the building stands.
What is required here is for the people who are so up in arms about the funding for the Ferguson to put their money where their mouth is, literally. Become a member. Volunteer. Write a check. Donate money above membership if you can. Come out to our events, which are held almost monthly. January was kind of a dud – it was a cold, dreary month – but we are in the process of building our calendar of events right now. Sign the visitor’s log if you come in. Visit and like and follow our Facebook page online. There is a way to donate through the page now, too.
It is a waste of time and energy being angry at the city council or the city manager about this situation. It’s time to find a way forward. This isn’t beyond our capabilities. Let the city be the city, and Ferguson friends be Ferguson friends. We can manage to keep the museum open and restore it to its former glory. We have the brains and the ability. All we must do is make it happen and refuse to accept failure. So, let’s get started.