Celina -- has the public been permitted to post
notices and hang signs, etc. in the past?
If so, the policy should state something along the
lines of: It is the intention of Williamson County to
preserve the beauty of the renovated courthouse, to
respect the integrity of court proceedings and to
ensure that all citizens, regardless of race, creed,
and gender understand the courthouse is a building
open to all. Therefore, all public notices, signs and
exhibits must be approved by the Court Commissioner
(or whatever the chief administrative officer is
titled) and the Williamson County Historical Museum
Director (or appropriate title).
It seems to me that it would be very hard to specify
what can and cannot be posted or exhibited by the
general public. It's hard to predict what people
will decide as an issue to raise.
I've never thought about a courthouse as a place to go
for informational notices (garage sales, events,
activities) but I could imagine people wanting to put
up campaign posters and signs exhorting people to vote
a certain way on referenda.
If the public has not been permitted to post signs,
notices, etc. in the courthouse in the past, then
don't even open yourself to the possibility -- keep
the Courthouse for official notices that must be
posted amd the Historical .
Several of the documents that Barbara Haas posted
links to address the use of courthouses by outside
groups with a permit. They have some general rules
about exhibits and signs that can be up termporarily
-- if event rental is a possibility, necessary signage
should be addressed there.
Also, checking with the public library, the public
schools, municipal buildings and other counties in
your part of Texas may be worth trying as this issue
has likely come up elsewhere.
The Historical Museum's access to and use of the
Courthouse and grounds really should be addressed in a
separate document since it's an entirely different
matter than general public signage or facility rental.
It should be approved by the appropriate county and
court officials.
Realistically, though, all agreements, policies, and
assurances may be forgotten/overlooked/ignored when
something that generates controversy and negative
public opinion happens, for example, the Smithsonian's
Enola Gay exhibit or the Cincinnati exhibit of Robert
Mapplethorpe photos further back.
Hope the above helps.
Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI
--- CELINA AGUIRRE <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
---------------------------------
Judith,
The courthouse will be operating as a regular
courthouse. It is also a Beaux Art building from 1911.
So far, our involvement will be with giving tours and
determining what goes in public spaces. Mainly, what
we want is to prevent the public from hanging whatever
they want. The policy would support us. It would also
cover the grounds so the construction of plaques and
monuments is restricted. We want to make sure we have
complete control of what goes in the public spaces. We
also want to have the flexibility of having objects
from our collection on exhibit if appropriate.
Celina I Aguirre
Curatorial Assistant
Williamson County Historical Museum
716 S. Austin Ave.
Georgetown, TX 78628
512.943.1670
[log in to unmask]
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