Trustee donation to relocate museum to Kreitzberg library

By Scott Craven
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

On Feb. 3, Norwich University received a $2.5 million gift from James N. Pritzker, a member of the school's Board of Trustees. According to Norwich President Richard Schneider, the gift will be used to support the planning and construction of a new museum, which will showcase the history of the university.

Schneider said the museum is the last piece of the three goals that are outlined in the university's 2003 long-range planning process.

Proceeds raised in earlier capital campaigns were used for the construction of the new hockey arena and the new math and science complex, and now with Pritzker's generous gift the school has the funds to better preserve its history.

"Mr. Pritzker is in perfect alignment with what our school is trying to do," Schneider said. "This has been a great fit for him, and certainly it has been a wonderful thing for us."

According to the President, Pritzker did not graduate from Norwich, but has been supporting the university since he became a Trustee in January of 1997.

Schneider also said that he regularly supports the Army, Air force, and Navy ROTC programs here at Norwich and has made smaller donations to Norwich in past events.

"For Norwich it's great to find a benefactor who is so supportive of our mission," Schneider said. "Mr. Pritzker is a participatory philanthropist. He gives money to something he is passionate about, but he likes to participate in them, as well."

According to Schneider, Pritzker believes very strongly in preparing citizen soldiers and is also responsible for sponsoring the University's writers' symposium each year.

Schneider said he has been talking about a new museum for a long time, and it's been one of his dreams to accomplish while he is president.

"We've never had the money to care for our museum collection properly," Schneider said, adding that the school has done a few things creatively to keep the current museum running, but there are many problems that can't wait any longer.

"The building has problems with mold and mildew, and water has begun to seep through the basement of the Chapel, causing water damage," Schneider said. The area is also poorly ventilated, which is causing unnecessary wear and tear on the items in there.

"There are tons of stuff stored away that's never seen the light of day," Schneider said. "The facility's just not a big enough space, and without proper ventilation and good air quality, it's really not an appropriate environment for a museum."

Schneider said that the first piece of Mr. Pritzker's gift is going to stabilize the collection and preserve the collection.

"We're starting to preserve the collection in ways that we were not able to do it before," Schneider said.

The museum will be attached to the Kreitzberg library as a pod by itself and will sit across from the multi-purpose room in the western section of the library.

"We like that idea for a number of reasons," Schneider said. "One, I want this museum to be an educational showpiece for the students. I want you guys to realize what an important school you are studying at and what about our history."

"It also has a broad sense educational component," Schneider said. "The nice thing about being connected to the library is that all our applicants go through there. I want every kid who's thinking about coming to Norwich going through that space. I want them to see what a dynamite school this is."

Schneider explained that the special collections section is also there, so all the historical paper that is important to Norwich's history is stored in the library as well.

"There's security there; it's safe; and the building is environmentally protected," Schneider said. "So there are a lot of advantages to being there.

"The other issue is that being in the library, the museum will always be open, where right now it's closed most of the time, because we can't afford to put another employee down there," Schneider said, explaining that the museum should be completed by 2005.

"It will take about two years to do the drawings, get the plans arranged, and get the bids out, and then it would probably take an additional year to build," Schneider said.

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