H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum to re-open April 1

The H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum will open April 1 and will operate Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Masks and social distancing will be required.

Members of the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Board at their monthly meeting Monday evening voted unanimously to re-open.

Museum Manager Emily Mayer said the that past months have been quiet for her and she will be happy to see people coming in again.

Despite the circumstances of the last year, she said, she suspects it will be a good year for museum.

H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Foundation President Elaine Morse also provided and update on the asbestos abatement contract for the future location of the museum in the former Griggs Printing Building on the 10 Block of Fifth Avenue.

Morse said the company doing the abatement has also offered to deal with lead-based paint in the building.

She said work on the asbestos will begin Monday, March 22, and should be concluded by that Friday.

The lead-based paint will be addressed at a later date.

Morse said while the foundation could not officially meet for lack of quorum, they discussed their endowment fund, which she said is doing very well.

Board Chair Lela Patera said she’ll soon meet with someone interested in donating statues made by the late Jim Pasma, a Havre artist and prominent state Democratic Leader.

The board also voted to pay to have Mayer attend the Museum Association of Montana’s next conference via Zoom.

Mayer said these conferences are very informative and will almost certainly worth the cost, providing education on various aspects of running museum.

“They’re really good,” she said. “You learn a lot from them.”

The next regular meeting of the Museum Board will be April 12 at 6 p.m.