For Immediate Release:
May 2, 2000
Reno County Museum Announces Development of
Underground Museum Project
The Reno County Museum, Located in Hutchinson, Kansas, is pleased
to announce that it has signed a lease agreement with Underground Vaults &
Storage to provide space in the salt mine below Hutchinson for the
development of an Underground Museum dedicated to telling the story of salt
in the United States. The development of such a museum would be unique,
and the only one of its kind in the United States.
The agreement between the Reno County Historical Society and
Underground Vaults & Storage (UVS) represents a unique and dynamic
partnership between the business community and the not-for-profit sector.
The respective entities will share the cost of constructing the shaft and
an above ground building which will be used by the museum as a staging area
for visitors to the underground museum and by UVS as a warehouse. The
agreement requires the museum to raise $2.5 million (the museums's share of
construction expenses) prior to December 31, 2002 in order to go forward
with the project. In the event the Museum raises the initial cash,
construction of the new shaft could begin as early as March 2003 with an
anticipated opening date for the Museum in September of 2004.
The agreement marks the first step in what has been a twenty-five
year drive by Hutchinson residents to establish tours of the salt mine.
The mine was first opened in 1923 by the Carey Salt Company and is now
operated by the Hutchinson Salt Company. For more than 50 years, salt mine
tours were available to students, groups, and others wishing to tour the
mine. That practice basically ended in 1975 because of new safety
regulations.
Underground Vaults & Storage was created by a group of businessmen
in 1959 for the purpose of storing records and materials below ground. UVS
has clients all over the country including movie studios, local
governments, and private business
Through a partnership agreement between Hutchinson Salt and UVS,
the companies share an elevator that takes records to the mine as well as
lifting tons of salt above ground each day. Use of the present elevator is
fairly restricted due the needs of both companies.
Difficulties in access, safety needs and security issues stifled
development of the subterranean environs for tourism for many years. These
issues were partially overcome by the agreement to construct a new
elevator. The location of the new elevator, and the proposed museum
location, eliminates access to area being mined and secure areas utilized
by UVS.
"This project took a lot of people working together to find a way
to make it happen," commented Jay Smith, Executive Director of the Reno
County Museum. "What makes this project so unique and exciting is that we
have taken the very popular concept of a salt mine tour a step further
with the potential development of a world class museum located within a
mine. People will still be able to walk through the mined areas, but they
will also be able to see how salt is mined, produced, and marketed. It is
very important to remember that the mining process is not the only method
used to extract salt. The evaporation process is more prevalent, and the
solar process is common as well. Thus, the Underground Museum will address
the industry as a whole. What makes this unique is that people will be
able to see first hand how the processes work in the midst of the great
salt deposit itself. We will demonstrate the importance of salt, not just
in our daily lives, but historically as well. Salt is an essential element
in life, and thus its story pre-dates written history. Salt has been used
as a medium of exchange and as a way to value life, hence the expression,
'worth his salt," said Smith.
There are other salt museums in mines, but those are located
overseas near Cracow, Poland, and Salzburg, Austria. The (Polish) Salt
Mine Museum at Wieliezcka is a destination site for thousands of tourists
each year. Other salt museums exist in the United States, but are not
located in a salt mine.
Museum officials do not yet have a final cost estimate for the
project. "Because of the negotiation process and out of respect for our
partners, we have not been able to hire consultant until we were certain
that an agreement between the Museum and UVS would be reached. The Museum
recently hired ESA Design of Abilene, Kansas to produce a concept design
and to establish costs for the creation of the museum. Those figures
should be available prior to October of this year," commented Smith.
Museum and UVS officials stressed that no mine tours are presently
available. Questions about the project should be addressed to Jay Smith at
the Reno County Museum.
"With support from the local community, individuals and businesses
across the country, and foundations, we can develop this unique attraction.
We look forward to the challenge," said Smith.
Contact:
Jay Smith
Executive Director
Reno County Museum
(316) 662-1184
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