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Thank you to everyone who took the time to reach out to our Volusia County Council about the continuation of county funding support for our cultural organizations.
After receiving robust community input, the County Council voted unanimously to accept nominations to the Volusia County Cultural Board, and continued funding support for the Volusia County Cultural Grant. It was a refreshing interaction that also prompted talks of reviewing the current grant program to make sure it is updated to better serve our local cultural organizations, and lighten the work for county staff.
The challenges with government budgets as they relate to cultural and historic elements is far from over though.
Currently, the New Smyrna Beach City Commission has decided to put a halt to the project that would rehabilitate our New Smyrna Beach Women's Club building.
The New Smyrna Beach Women's Club building is 99 years old this year and is a nationally registered historic building.
The project to rehab the building was initiated several years ago. Estimates were generated, bids were taken, grants to support the project were applied for and awarded. However, now that it is time to move forward with the work, the estimated costs for the rehabilitation have increased by over 1 million dollars causing a shortfall in the project.
At this point it is not known what the city might do to remedy the situation. There have been comments that the costs may overshadow the benefit of retaining the building and that the citizens dollars might be better spent elsewhere.
Spending dollars on assets that don't deliver monetary value back to the community is often difficult for government officials to justify. Hopefully our current city staff and elected officials can find a pathway to spare the New Smyrna Beach Women's Club.
After all, value doesn't only exist in monetary form, it is often found in the stories of those who came before us, and the efforts they applied to create a better future for those who would come later. Those stories and memories create value for our efforts today.
The New Smyrna Beach Women's Club currently stands as a physical memory of the women who formed the organization, raised the money to buy the land, and build the facility. They were advocates for improving the welfare of children in the area, and worked to have the first school lunches served to local students along with other projects over the years. All the while making their facility available for community functions and meetings.
I don't envy our government officials as they struggle through the current budgeting cycle and try to contend with the inflated costs we all are experiencing.
My hope is that a long term approach to the building's future can be applied in an effort to explore reapproaching the project with more up to date estimates.
There are fewer and fewer physical reminders of the work our city's ancestors put in to create our community. Perhaps the New Smyrna Beach Women's Club building, and the memory of the important work those ladies accomplished can still hold a place in our city's future.
Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday.
Greg Holbrook
Executive Director
New Smyrna Museum of History
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