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‘MVA set aside $50K for museum’
The Marianas Visitors Authority has already set aside $50,000 of its budget to support the CNMI Museum.
According to MVA managing director Chris Concepcion, the decision to set aside $50,000 of the MVA budget for the CNMI Museum was earlier approved by the MVA board as they were making their budget requests for fiscal year 2018.
“The next step is to work on a memorandum of understanding and for [CNMI museum director Daniel Aquino] to submit a breakdown of how he plans to spend the $50,000,” he said.
“[MVA] is ready to release the funds to them once everything is approved by both offices,” he added.
Concepcion added that Aquino has been working directly with MVA procurement officer Dave Muña, but disclosed that during the meeting with Aquino, the breakdown was not yet ready.
“We are very pleased to be able to support the museum. It has always been our goal to promote it—and we do—our website promotes it and our offshore partners promote it. Definitely we [would like to be able to] encourage our visitors to visit the museum and learn about our history,” said Concepcion, adding that some of the artifacts in the museum may be displayed in the airport or somewhere else frequented by tourists.
“We are thinking of working with the Commonwealth Ports Authority to display [some of the artifacts] in glass cases complete with a description, and maybe change the displays quarterly or annually,” said Concepcion.
He believed it is important to “preserve what is [in the museum] and provide an avenue for them to be displayed.”
“We look forward to the day when the CNMI Museum is fully open so that both residents and visitors may check it out,” he added.
The CNMI Museum is currently closed and has been so since the onslaught of Typhoon Soudelor last August 2015. The museum, which used to serve as an old Japanese hospital even before World War II, sustained damage due to Soudelor. Aquino was just appointed just two weeks ago. Its former director is the current head of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, Robert Hunter.
