Spare Spokane asset

The governor’s proposal to close Spokane’s main museum to help plug a $1.1 billion deficit is foolish. As a past member of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (MAC) Finance Committee, I am aware of the MAC’s finances. The MAC has a $2 million annual budget, half of which is raised locally. In 2001, we opened a beautiful, greatly expanded $30 million facility, which was financed with $10 million locally raised. Most of the programs and displays shown at the MAC are locally financed. Closing the MAC would save the state about $1 million, a literal drop in a bucket! As it is, the state is getting a bargain!

What would be the loss from closure? The MAC attracts about 100,000 visits per year, including nearly 4,000 K-12 students, and the MAC has several student and family learning programs. The MAC is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. The MAC contains one of the largest collections of American Indian artifacts in the world, an important Northwest Historical Library and the historic Campbell House, which is one of the most visited facilities in Spokane. Closing our museum would be a great loss to our community.

John A. Peterson

Spokane