We haven't done any quite so grand in scale, although we did allow the use
of our rental facility for a small theatrical production. The group was
looking for a location to do Of Mice and Men, and the depot freightroom fit
the bill for them. There was a lot of resistance from some longtime members,
and a number of headaches for me. But, it did bring a lot of people into the
space who otherwise would not have come, and we did make a small income from
it.

Here are my random thoughts in no particular order:
--collaborations with other community organizations are a good thing
--anything of this scale is bound to have unforeseen headaches
--will it bring you publicity and/or funds such that the headaches are worth
it?
--does the group have anything to do with our mission? could we make the
event relate to our mission (for example, having a docent or volunteer story
teller tell old ghost stories from your area, or any gruesome or grisly
story that kids might like - if that doesn't seem to be too controversial).

Hope this helps  - I'm looking forward to seeing what other people have to
say on this topic!

Erica
Erica S. Maniez
Museum Director, Issaquah Historical Society
425/392-3500
[log in to unmask]
www.issaquahhistory.org

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Santa Fe Trail Center
  Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 11:38 AM
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: haunted house


  Our staff has been approached by a local organization which wants to run a
haunted house on the museum's grounds, NOT in the museum proper.  I have
been asked to see what others in the museum field are doing about
non-standard use of the facilities.  None of the activities will take place
in historic structures and, at this time, we are not considering details
such as insurance.  What we would like to know is, do other sites allow the
use of their grounds like this?  What happens when items such as
"tombstones" are left on the lawn for a week?  Does the idea of scaring
children conflict with our mission as an educational facility?  We would get
lots a free publicity and, hopefully, lots of people to the museum that
might not otherwise come.  BUT, this is not what a museum stands for (the
organization has already rejected our suggestion of a historical themed fun
festival).  Even though this would not be our event, we would be connected
with it.  Of course, this all has to go through our Board of Directors but
we on the staff would like to have some idea of what we think is
appropriate.

  Thank you in advance.

  Sincerely,
  Betsy Crawford-Gore, Curator
  Santa Fe Trail Center
  Larned, Kansas

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