S.C. State president addresses I.P. Stanback Museum’s future

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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WOLO) — South Carolina State University wants you to know the I.P. Stanback Museum is not closing. “The only thing that’s changing is that it’s in a different location temporarily,” S.C. State President Dr. W. Franklin Evans says students, faculty and the public will be able to use the new facility in the same way. “We expect that site to be beautiful and that people will get the same experience in the new site, as the old one.” Dr. Evans could not give a cost for the relocation, only saying the school hopes it’s minimal. He says staff members on campus and the facilities department will help in the move, which he says museum director, Ellen Zisholtz, is responsible for. The thousands of artifacts in the collection are moving to the Crawford Engineering Complex. A concern, heard again and again, is how everything will be moved safely to the new space. “Those items were brought here, in cars, by hand, and we’re not doing anything differently.” The building housing the collection is one of nine being closed. Dr. Evans says they’re all a part of a boiler system that’s more than 60 years old. He says the structures have been costing the university $2,300 a day in utilities. “So for us to take those buildings offline, and the heat that’s going to those buildings, is going to be a major savings for the university,” Evans says. He says the university is aware of what the Stanback means. “It’s valuable,” Evans says. “Certainly we are proud of the collections and the work that goes on in the museum.” The goal is to upgrade the systems and get the collection back in its original home.