By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
In the midst of the continuing statewide brouhaha over Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed budget, Moapa Valley and the Lost City Museum has received some encouraging news – the museum is one of four that will remain in operation for at least another year.
The four facilities, which included the Nevada Historical Society in Reno, the railroad museums in Ely and Carson City and the Lost City Museum, were scheduled to be shuttered under the budget proposal proposed at the end of last year by Gov. Jim Gibbons.
Sandoval, however, apparently realizing the importance of the museums and the fact that tens of thousands of people visit them annually, decided to continue their funding. The Lost City Museum will continue to operate four days a week, Thursday through Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“Naturally I would prefer that we could be open seven days a week, but we we’re really happy that we’re open at all,” said Katheryne Olson, museum director. “We’re grateful for the support we received when the word went out that we were going to close (in Gibbons’ proposal) and we hope that that kind of support will continue. We also want to thank the governor for putting us back in the budget to keep us open.”
State workers are scheduled for a 5 percent pay cut, reduction in health insurance benefits and employees will be forced to pay a larger contribution toward retirement under Sandoval’s budget.
“Just like other state workers across Nevada, museum employees will be seeing the smaller salaries and reduced benefits,” Olson said.
Additionally, in his State of the State address to the legislature last Wednesday, the governor proposed rating state offices and employees among other things on a performance based system and while staying open is good news for the museum and Moapa Valley, the fact that the governor is still limiting days of operation has made it difficult for Olson and her staff to prove their worth to the state.
In the past, the museum boasted an attendance of more than 30,000 visitors a year. That number dropped drastically when the facility was forced to close for three days a week, Olson said.
“It is extremely difficult when our actual performance is limited by our hours of operation which in turn limits our attendance among other things,” Olson said. “If we ever do open full time again, it will be a struggle restoring our reputation (as an important place to visit in Southern Nevada). Of course for a museum, word of mouth is our best advertising and we hope that continues.”
While the future holds promise for the Lost City Museum, the legislature could ignore Sandoval’s suggestion and close the facility.
“We want to encourage people who want to see the museum open and thriving to contact their legislators and give us some additional support,” Olson said.
This year is the 76th anniversary of the Lost City Museum. It houses hundreds of artifacts from an Anasazi community that thrived along the Muddy and Virgin rivers for centuries before the ancient Native Americans deserted the area.
Moapa Valley residents revealed the Anasazi ruins and once it was determined that Hoover Dam would create a lake large enough to inundate the community, state and federal officials raced to preserve the artifacts.
