City Plan Seeks to Keep Museum From Relocating

The City Council has approved a plan aimed at persuading the Southwest Museum to remain at its historic site in Mt. Washington rather than relocate out of the city. The plan, which was approved this week by a 10-0 vote, calls for working with museum officials to determine the feasibility of remaining at its present location and renovating the 77-year-old facility.

But museum officials are pursuing independent studies whose conclusions will be the key in any decision about the museum’s future, Trustee Michael Heumann said. “Our ultimate goal is to secure the long-run viability of the museum,” Heumann said. “If if turns out that staying at our present location is incompatible with that and we would have a viable future in another location, we would feel compelled to move.”

The Southwest Museum, the oldest in the city, is home to one of the nation’s finest and largest collections of American Indian art and artifacts.