Museum of Surveying Grand Opening March 19, 2011

Museum of Surveying Opens March 19, 2011

I was there about 2 years ago as part of the Illinois conference. At that time the building and inside looked great but the displays were almost nonexistint. I haven't been back since, but I saw a half hour T.V. show on the local PBS station about the museum. It now looks pretty complete.

They have the large ball that they can project all sorts of images on, such as the earth, and put it in motion. It doesn't sound that great, but when you see it in person, its pretty neat.

I had begun to lose faith in the place after David Ingram washed his hands of it and it seemed like it would never open. I began to get more encouraged when I found out they were running a blog that was getting updated.

I will probably go check it out sometime this summer if it doesn't go broke and close first. Maybe become a member again.

I was told they offer a money-back guarantee if not satisfied with the tour / exhibits; haven't verified that though.

I, too, might return to a supporter of the museum, someday.

I do encourage all to visit. I also made the tour a couple of years ago and saw "The World on a Sphere". Only 3 of these things in the midwest, at the time, with one being in Chicago.

The movies or projections onto the sphere is very neat, though I am not sure how many things it may show may adapt well to land surveying, but many geographic and atmospheric topics relate well to the students that take part in the tour.

Never got the story on what happened between David and the Museum.

However, not too long ago, David had a blow-up on this site and has been unseen (or at least very scarce) since.

FWIW, maybe his anger or whatever at the Museum came at a bad time. His withdrawal doesn't necessarily translate into a reason for doubt.......people disagree all the time, over legitimate issues, and their parting is not necessarily an indication of anything in particular.

> Never got the story on what happened between David and the Museum.
>
> ... His withdrawal doesn't necessarily translate into a reason for doubt ...

Seems like it was two or three years ago that David removed himself from the museum board. That's not really why I doubted it would open, it just happened to occur about the same time. I think Bob Church and/or some people from the Illinois association kept it alive, but it seemed to be on life support as they went through different administrators and it just really didn't seem like anything was happening there. I wondered how long it would be before they pulled the plug, so to speak.

Apparently, they revived it and it looks promising.

I sort of wished I lived closer to it (not really, maybe I wished the museum was closer to me) so that I could have been more "in the loop" on what was going on and maybe could have volunteered some time to help. I will probably join as a member again and try to support it that way.

I had the privilege of visiting the National Museum of Surveying in 2009 for the debut of the Science on a Sphere. They were, at the time, still in the beginning stages of setting up the museum displays and have made great progress since my visit. I have to say, the Museum couldn't be in a better location, have a better theme, or have a more dedicated staff. Their accomplishment is awesome.

[flash width=640 height=390] http://www.youtube.com/v/f4jP0pAC9Qg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 [/flash]

In my opinion, the Museum provides an unequaled opportunity for land surveyors to get the word out to the public that we are here and what our profession is all about. One of the perpetual discussions we have at our board and committee meetings at all levels, state, national and regional, involve ways to promote our profession to the public. Well, here's one of those ways staring us in the face and begging for the support of our profession. What is the majority response that I hear from surveyors as I travel from state to state and conference to conference? I hear constant negative comments, rumors, half-truths and back biting over the Museum. What a shame.

Why is this museum struggling to get off the ground? Because of lack of support by our profession. Why are we wondering if it will survive? Because some have decided to not support it. Why won't we support it? Because the majority of our profession doesn't see the value of public education. If it doesn't equate to dollars in our pockets, we see no return. We lack VISION. Thankfully, there are some in our profession who don't. They are the ones on the front line who are building a National Museum of Surveying in spite of our generally negative attitudes. They are the VISIONARIES of our profession. They are the ones we should be grateful for. They are the ones we should support. They need our support TODAY!

JBS

I'm the young lad in the Illinois Stories video. I'm the new Assistant Director at the National Museum of Surveying since November 2010. Except for like two weeks, I've been with the museum since it opened, as at least a volunteer. I'm the only paid employee at ten dollars per hour. Bob Church is the Treasurer of the Board, and he is here everyday as a volunteer. We have about 20 docent volunteers, and we have 5 staff volunteers.

The museum really is dedicated to preserving the past of surveying while ensuring its future. The Science on a Sphere completely relates to surveying, and the museum also tailors the SOS and the entire museum to the curriculum of school kids. The museum is always looking for artifacts, stories, and maps from around the United States so we can be a truly national museum.

Currently, the museum is working on a surveyor's obstacle course, a Saturday Academy, and better lessons to give teachers. If anybody has fun games, ideas, lessons, etc, I would be more than glad to use them.

I'll leave it at that, but I do encourage you to be a member, as we all felt the synergy of this opening and my infusion within it. As a secondary education and a history graduate, I/we have so many ideas for education and commemoration, and with a base of surveyors, I believe we can accomplish all of our dreams.

Thanks for the update, Matt.

and,

THANKS TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS!!!

The surveying profession owes you all a great measure of gratitude.

1 Timothy 5:18 - For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."

Come on, surveyors... Let's support the museum and support the volunteers. There is no reason we can't pay these people for watching over our house.

JBS

:good:

Shout out to all the surveyors out there...

The National Museum of Surveying website just added a quick and easy way to "donate" on their website! Just go to their "Support Us" page and select the "add to cart" button which will allow any number of $10 donations that you can muster.

Please check it out, make your donation to support the Museum, and browse their website. They've got lots of stuff happening. They need our support in order to succeed.

JBS