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Program From the 1971 Dedication of the State of Maine Cultural Building

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Maine State LibraryDigital MaineLibrary Documents Maine State Library6-2-1971Program From the 1971 Dedication of the State ofMaine Cultural BuildingMaine State LibraryMaine State ArchivesMaine State MuseumFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalmaine.com/msl_docsThis Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Maine State Library at Digital Maine. It has been accepted for inclusion in LibraryDocuments by an authorized administrator of Digital Maine. For more information, please contact statedocs@maine.gov.Recommended CitationMaine State Library, Maine State Archives, and Maine State Museum, "Program From the 1971 Dedication of the State of MaineCultural Building" (1971). Library Documents. 9.https://digitalmaine.com/msl_docs/9STATE OF MAINE LIBRARY - MUSEUM - ARCHIVES BUILDINGDEDICATION0f3n tl|e of ©ne andJoint Resolution in Observance of the Dedication ofthe Library - Museum - Archives Buildingthe building authorized by the 102nd Legislature and approved by the people ofMaine to house the library, museum and archives of the State of Maine has been erected; and, the Honorable Kenneth M. Curtis, Governor of the State of Maine, will lead adistinguished body of Maine citizens in the dedication of the new State building on June 2, 1971;now, therefore, be itthat the House of Representatives and the Senate of the State of Maine shallrecess their proceedings from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on June 2, 1971 to permit the members of eachbody to attend the dedication ceremonies of the new building; and be it furtherthat the members of the Maine State Cultural Building Authority are herebycommended for their dedicated services and significant contribution to the government and citizensof Maine in exercising the responsibility for its planning and construction; and be it furtherthat an engrossed copy of this Resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretaryof State, be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of State to the chairman and to each memberof the authority.of KrpreaentatftieBRead and Adoptedfflau 14, ianSent up for ConcurrenceBERTHA W. JOHNSON,ClerkJht £>?nateRead and Adoptedin Concurrencemail IT, i0riHARRY N. STARBRANCH,SecretaryH. P. 1326S T A T EI B R A R, Y" •O F - M A I N EU S E U M ; -A R C H I VMAINE STATE CULTURAL BUILDING AUTHORITY1967 - 1971Niran C. Bates, ChairmanDirector, Bureau of Public ImprovementsSamuel S. Silsby, Jr., Vice ChairmanState ArchivistRuth A. Hazelton, SecretaryState LibrarianRobert L. DammDirector, Maine State MuseumRichard N. BerryMaine State MuseumHarland A. CarpenterMaine State LibraryLinivood F. RossMaine State ArchivesL. Kinvin Wroth (January 1967 -June 1969)Maine State ArchivesWilliam H. BradfordSpecial Consultant to the AuthorityWalker O. Cain & AssociatesArchitectStewart & WilliamsGeneral ContractorCallahan & LeeFoundation ContractorMAINE STATE LIBRARYRuth A. Hazelton, State LibrarianVirginia Hill, Deputy LibrarianMAINE STATE MUSEUMRobert L. Damm, DirectorMaine State Museum.MAINE STATE ARCHIVESSamuel S. Silsby, Jr.State ArchivistArchives Advisory BoardEdward L. Penley, ChairmanRobert G. Albion, Vice ChairmanEdith HaryWilliam JabineArthur M. JohnsonErnest C. MarrinerJerome G. PlanteHarry W. RoiveEarle G. Shettleworth, Jr.Maine State Museum CommissionJohn E. Pancoast, ChairmanPaul S. Plumer, Vice ChairmanAirs. Ashmead White, SecretaryGary G. BagleyJohn W. BallouRichard N. BerryWendell S. HadlockHildreth G. HawesJohn N. M. HowellsBernard LipmanMrs. Ralph D. AlcLearyMrs. Arthur J. MrazMrs. Walter M. Reed, Jr.George B. RichMrs. Roger V. SnowThe Maine State Cultural Building Authority thanks the Maine State Sesqui-centennial Commission for the receipt of a grant to pay the expenses of thededication ceremony.Dedication of theState of Maine Library - Museum - Archives BuildingNoonRemarksRemarksRemarksRemarksRemarksPresentation of the KeyRemarksBenedictionProgramWednesday, June 2, 1971Roger V. Snow, Jr.Dorris Isaacson, PresidentMaine League of Historical Societies and MuseumsRoger H. McDonough, State LibrarianNew JerseyJohn E. Pancoast, ChairmanMaine State Museum CommissionDr. James B. RhoadsArchivist of the United StatesMichael Salter, PresidentStewart & WilliamsWalker 0. CainArchitectNiran C. Bates, ChairmanMaine State Cultural Building AuthorityGovernor Kenneth M. CurtisThe Reverend Canon Roger S. SmithRichard N. BerryMaster of CeremoniesandChairman of the Dedication CommitteeThe dedication of the MaineState Library, Museum and ArchivesBuilding marks the end of a longeffort to obtain the facilities thatwill enable Maine to preserve andpresent its historic heritage moreeffectively.The ceremonies note the end ofone effort and the beginning ofanother. The building is the goaltoward which many Maine citizensgave unstintingly of their time andtalents. Now that it is a reality, itfalls upon all the people of theState, as well as the three agencies,to use the building and its facilitieseffectively as a means to achievemultiple purposes involving bothMaine's past and its future.In the history of the building1966 was an important year. It wasduring this year that both the Legis-lature and the people of Maine gaveapproval of the new building. How-ever, the history of the buildingreaches back even further. TheMaine State Library is the oldestof the three agencies housed in thenew building having been createdby legislative act in 1839. For morethan 100 years a shortage of spacehas plagued the State Library. Afterhaving been moved numerous timesfrom one location to another, theLegislature in 1929 recognized theseverity of the problem and ap-proved a resolve in favor of a newbuilding or an addition. However,no funds were appropriated and theDepression killed any hope for theconstruction of new quarters.Over the years Maine peopleshowed a growing interest in thecolorful history of the State. Thisinterest in Maine and the artifactsconnected with the State's historyled to the establishment of a oneroom museum on the ground floorof the State House. Despite theextremely limited size of the mu-seum, it was immediately evidentthat the displays held a strongattraction for out of state visitorsas well as for Maine residents - bothadults and school children. How-ever, it was equally clear that sucha small facility could not begin tomeet the state's need to preserveMaine's cultural heritage; to inter-pret and bring that heritage to lifein exciting and meaningful pro-grams; and to provide information,facilities and services to both pro-fessionals and amateurs studying thehistory of the State.The fundamental need for thepreservation of the public recordsby the government was recognizedby the Legislature in creating theMaine State Archives. Until 1965Maine ranked at the bottom of allstates in archives administration andrecords management. Governmentrecords have a continuing utility tothe administration of State govern-ment and must be preserved, serv-iced and maintained for this pur-pose as a continuing responsibilityof the State to perpetuate thememory of Executive, Legislativeand Judicial action; protect thepublic and private rights and priv-ileges established in the records; andprovide for the accountability of thegovernment to the people of theState. The "Archives and RecordsManagement Law", enacted by the102nd Legislature in 1965 providesfor the implementation of a com-prehensive archives and records man-agement program.Through the legislation whichcreated the Archives and again in1966 through legislation whichcreated the Maine State Museum,the State recognized the needs thatexisted and took initial steps tomeet them; however, without abuilding the Museum and Archivescould exist in name only.At the same time it was realizedthat the growth of the State Libraryto a collection of nearly a halfmillion volumes, a staff of 44 per-sons and services that reach intoall parts of Maine meant that itcould not continue to performefficiently much longer in the lim-ited space of the State House.While the needs of the threeinstitutions were closely tied to-gether, it was on the Museum thatthe initial attention fell. In Februaryof 1965 the 102nd Maine Legis-lature passed a joint order creatinga legislative committee to study thelocation, size, construction and costof a State Museum. In May theMuseum Study Committee recom-mended that the Library and Ar-chives should be included in theproposed building and that the pro-ject should receive further study.For more than six months theStudy Committee continued itswork holding a series of publichearings and meeting with severalprofessional consultants. In January1966 the committee reported to aspecial session of the 102nd Legis-lature and recommended a bondissue to fund construction of abuilding adjacent to the capitolbuilding to house the Library. Mu-seum and Archives. In the samemonth the Legislature passed anAct creating the Maine State Cul-tural Building Authority and ap-propriating $4,800,000 for con-struction of the building. The bondissue approved by the Legislaturewas subject to referendum on No-vember 8, 1966.During the period before thereferendum, the Legislative Com-mittee continued its study of pos-sible sites. In September 1966 morethan 200 Maine citizens interestedin the future of the building met inAugusta and formed the MaineCitizens Committee for a StateLibrary, Archives and Museum. The"SLAM" committee, as it was pop-ularly known, elected Mrs. DorrisIsaacson of Lewiston as chairman.Before the referendum in Novemberdozens of civic, fraternal, business,professional and service organiza-tions, as well as thousands of in-dividuals publicly endorsed the con-cept of a new building to house theLibrary, Museum and Archives.On November 8, 1966 the votersof Maine put their stamp of approvalon the project with a favorablereferendum vote.On December 28,1966 the Legis-lative Act became effective and inJanuary 1967 the Building Author-ity held its first formal meeting.The Authority was by law made upof the Director of the Bureau ofPublic Improvements, Chairman,theState Archivist, State Librarian andState Museum Director, and onemember each appointed by theArchives Advisory Board, the StateLibrarian and the State MuseumCommission. The Authority wascharged by law with acquiring land,constructing a building and pro-viding facilities and equipment forthe Library, Museum and Archives.During 1967 the Authority metmore than 30 times directing itsefforts toward two main goals. First,that the building be planned togive the State the best possiblecombination of the aesthetic andthe practical within the limitationsof the budget. Secondly, that a timeschedule be established and ad-hered to as closely as possible dueto the continuing rapid increase inconstruction costs.Working toward its first objec-tive, the Authority selected a site,acquired land, hired consultants ineach program area, developed pro-gram and space requirements, se-lected an outstanding architecturalfirm, approved a basic design con-cept, made numerous necessarychanges in detailed floor plans andsketches and gave approval to pre-liminary plans during 1967 - itsfirst year of operation.Consultants were Roger H. Mc-Donough, State Librarian in NewJersey for 20 years,former Presidentof the American Library Associationand an active consultant on libraryprojects for several states and theU. S. Office of Education; Dr.Frank B. Evans, Deputy AssistantArchivist of the National Archivesand Adjunct Professor of ArchivalAdministration, The American Uni-versity; Michael Spock, Director ofthe Boston Childrens' Museum andWilliam E. Marshall, Director of theColorado Historical Society, bothrecognized authorities in the mu-seum field.On June 1, 1967 the firm ofWalker 0. Cain and Associates wasselected as architects for the build-ing. In addition to work with Bow-doin College, the firm has designeda number of outstanding publicbuildings.The Authority devoted consid-erable time and effort to the sel-ection of the present site, its workfollowing some two years of site sel-ection work done by the LegislativeMuseum Study Committee and theinterim committee named to studythe site for the combined facility.Of the various sites considered, theAuthority felt the present site wouldprovide maximum utility to stategovernment offices, accessibility tothe public, relatively low land ac-quisition costs and would be anatural and practical addition to theentire state government complex.Cost, efficiency and the aestheticappearance of the capitol now andin the future were carefully con-sidered.In 1968 there were two high-lights in the development of thenew building. On July 3, theGovernor and Council awarded thefoundation contract for the build-ing to Callahan and Lee andon July 16, 1968 ground breakingceremonies were held on the site.Using a historic wooden spade thathad been used in the construction ofFort Western on the KennebecRiver, Governor Kenneth M. Curtisbroke the first ground for thebuilding.On May 21, 1969 the ExecutiveCouncil passed an order awardingthe contract on the construction ofthe building to Stewart and Williamsand on May 26, 1969 the firmstarted work on construction of thebuilding on the completed founda-tion. The first shipment of struc-tural steel arrived in June and 20 to30 workers were employed on thesite. By August about one third ofthe structural steel was in place.By the end of 1969, the struc-tural steel was 85% erected, most ofthe concrete floor slabs were inplace and rough grading around thebuilding was about 80% completed.Work continued on the buildingthroughout the winter and into1970.On November 11, 1970 theAuthority officially voted to desig-nate the building as the Stateof Maine Library-Museum-ArchivesBuilding. From the fall of 1970 tothe spring of 1971 the work on theinterior of the building was com-pleted.The new building provides theLibrary, Museum and Archives withsome of the most modern facilitiesavailable. However, the basic con-cept of the building is not one thatwill house the staff and equipmentof the three agencies but rather it isthat of a building designed to beused by the people of Maine. Halfof the museum area will be devotedto public exhibits and in additionthere will be classrooms, an audio-visual center, laboratories and otherfacilities available to teachers, stu-dents and researchers. The Librarywill include an improved generalreading room, a better catalog andreference section, a separate Stateof Maine room and other facilitiesserving both the public and thelibraries of the State. The facilitiesof the new building not only enablethe State Archivist to properlyprotect the permanently valuablerecords of government, they alsoenable him to manage, preserve andservice them for the continuing useof the government and the public.The Library, Museum and Ar-chives Building was dedicated onJune 2, 1971 with appropriate cere-monies to mark the completion ofa project that is more than a build-ing. It is the expression in steel,concrete and granite of the need ofMaine people of all ages to becomemore aware than ever before ofMaine's significant historic past andthe part that it plays in the deter-mination of the future of the State.

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Program From the 1971 Dedication of the State of Maine Cultural Building

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