Local museum will face budget battle

The future of funding for the upkeep and operation of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Education Center in Piggott is expected to be a hot topic for discussion in the upcoming Arkansas legislative session. According to State Senator Robert Thompson of Paragould, funding for the facility has put a budget strain on Arkansas State University, and many lawmakers feel the museum operation is expendable.

"The museum is a fairly large asset to this community," Thompson told those at last week's "town hall" meeting in Piggott, "but there are lawmakers that feel the money could be better used elsewhere." He also added that ASU is the only state college that still operates museums off-campus. "I applaud (ASU president) Dr. Les Wyatt for efforts to maintain the museum program, but some feel its days are numbered."

Arkansas State operates the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum, along with facilities at Lake Village and Tyronza. Thompson said ASU asked for two million dollars last biennium for operation of the three facilities, with the bulk of the money going to the Piggott location. Lawmakers approved $1.3 million of that money, though much of the funding came from the General Improvement Fund.

Thompson added there will again be a fight this year, noting the money to keep the local museum operating another two years is "in jeopardy." He encouraged local residents to let their feelings be known on the subject. "If you don't want to lose funding, you need to let Gov. Beebe know how important it is to Piggott," Thompson added.

Rodney Rouse, who was a member of the committee that raised the money to purchase the old school property and donate it to the museum, also addressed the matter. He said many people were under the assumption that ASU had promised to build an education center on the property. "That was never promised to us," he explained. "For us to do that we'd have to have a Wallace Fowler or someone like that who would come in here and donate five to ten million dollars to ever get that done." Rouse added the community shouldn't worry about un-kept promises...but should worry about "keeping what you have."

"Let the governor, the board of trustees and Dr. Wyatt know it's a priority," Thompson added. "Write to other legislators and let them know it's important."

Funding for the local museum, along with a variety of other issues, will be considered when the Arkansas General Assembly convenes Monday in Little Rock.