A donkey-pulled plow broke ground on the site for a new visitor center at the LSU Rural Life Museum on Wednesday. The unconventional method is appropriate only for a museum meant to “preserve the past and take an active part in the future.”That is how David Floyd, Director of the LSU Rural Life Museum, describes the mission of the University’s 39-year-old outdoor museum. And he said that mission will be closer to reality than ever with the construction of a new visitor center that will bring modern amenities to a place surrounded by the past.The visitor center is being funded by $5.14 million in private donations, which Floyd said he is proud of.”Supporters of the museum make up about 99 percent of the donors,” Floyd said. “We had  donations ranging from $500 to $1 million.” Chancellor Michael Martin echoed the importance of donations coming from museum supporters.”The reason this is a place worth visiting is because it is so well cared for by people who care about it,” Martin said.W. Henson Moore, former U.S. Congressman and Forever LSU campaign chair, said the number of donations received is evidence of how much support the museum enjoys.”The original fundraising goal was $4.68 million, but they got $5.14 million,” Moore said. “They reached 112 percent of their goal.”The new center will improve visitor services, said Bob Hawthorne, president of the Burden Foundation, which donated the land for the Rural Life Museum at the time of its creation.”The new building will add air conditioning, a sprinkler system and additional protection to artifacts,” Hawthorne said. Hawthorne said the new    additions will improve the visitor experience at the museum.Another important feature of the new building is the indoor theater, which will be larger and more adaptable to different events.Floyd said the theater will also be academically beneficial to fourth and eighth graders in Louisiana who take a state-wide standardized test. “We will have programs that intertwine with LEAP testing,” Floyd said. He hopes the larger theater will allow more student visitors to benefit from these programs.In his remarks during the ceremony, Martin commented on the significance of innovative programs coming from a University institution. “During times of stress on budgets and angst on campus, you don’t let go of something so important,” Martin said.
–Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]