Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

The Amador County Museum has remained = closed=20 since May, when roof repairs uncovered other structural=20 deficiencies.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
If public/private partnerships are = gaining=20 fashionable steam, what with the federal government buying into banks = and auto=20 manufacturing companies, then the trend may be continuing with a pending = agreement between the county and Amador County Historical Society to = re-open the=20 dormant Amador County Museum under a mantle of shared = responsibility.

The=20 museum was closed indefinitely last May when long-delayed roof repairs = uncovered=20 a raft of other structural issues.

As county revenues continue to = spiral=20 downward and more funding sources fade into distant memories, money has = become=20 the chief, if not the only, deciding factor in many situations. In the = case of=20 the museum, the county simply doesn't have the money needed to make the = repairs=20 necessary to provide safety to visitors, especially disabled = visitors.

A=20 meeting is scheduled for Friday among Amador County General Services=20 Administration director Jon Hopkins, GSA assistant director Leanne = McIntyre,=20 ACHS President Larry Cenotto, ACHS Vice President Dave Butow and other = society=20 directors.

"There are just two things," Cenotto said. "One - = making it=20 ADA- (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant. The other - repairing=20 structural damage that was discovered during the process of repairing = the=20 roof."

A report prepared in October 2007 by Kim Blackseth of = Interests=20 Inc. specified the work necessary to make the building ADA-compliant. = The list=20 includes enlarging a door opening from 28 inches to 36, regrading the = entrance=20 ramp, replacing the stairs, providing a drinking fountain, regrading the = parking=20 lot and walking surface, and dozens more. The total price tag is = estimated to be=20 somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000.

Meanwhile, Cenotto, who = retired=20 in 2006 as the county's archivist, is also looking to focus ACHS efforts = on=20 rebooting the archives, itself suffering from budget cuts and staff = reductions.=20 The archives, on Airport Road in Martell, currently has no paid staff.=20 Volunteers help run the office, but hours are now = limited.

Because the=20 county has implemented a new software program, all the historical data = once=20 available on the county archives Web site is having to be re-entered. = This may=20 take at least two years, Cenotto said. Until then, it will be more = difficult to=20 track down specific records. Cenotto would like to see - following the = updated=20 archives on the Web - a change in the physical location for the=20 office.

Historic society representatives theorize that transfer = of the=20 museum's responsibility from the county, which is a government entity, = to the=20 nonprofit ACHS may prove beneficial.

"If the ACHS takes over," = said=20 retired museum curator Georgia Fox, "we won't have to do a lot of the = things for=20 ADA that we already had done." In 1996, Fox arranged for help from the = inmates=20 of Mule Creek State Prison to provide access for disabled visitors. Fox = also=20 filmed the entire contents of the second floor of the museum, in order = to make=20 recorded displays available to visitors unable to climb the = stairs.

Butow=20 said that he has been told that there is a historic building code, = revised in=20 2007, which gives greater latitude on ADA-compliance to historic=20 buildings.

The damage discovered during the roof repair process = last=20 summer may be a result of the repair process. Butow has explored the = condition=20 of the museum building, much of which he documented in a July 2008=20 report.

"They put in tie-rods at the top of the building," Butow=20 explained. "Tightening the rods pulled the joists of the second floor = out of=20 their sockets." Details of the structural repairs needed or estimates of = the=20 expense have not been released. Hopkins couldn't be reached for comment = before=20 deadline.

For the time being, the society has said that it would = be=20 content to open only the smaller building on the museum grounds to the = public.=20 That building contains the working model of the Kennedy Gold Mine, a = popular,=20 detailed recreation of a famous Amador County historic = landmark.

For the=20 moment, the Amador County Museum remains closed, pending Friday's=20 meeting.

Bethany A. Monk contributed to this = report.

Jerry = Budrick