Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Spurlock Museum [PAGE 8]

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M O V I N G THE MUSEUM

At the same time that planning was underway for new galleries, the Museum staff began preparing for the move from Lincoln Hall. Although only four blocks separated the World Heritage Museum from the new Spurtock Museum facility, the staff prepared the artifacts with the same care as if they were sending them around the globe. Beginning in 1997, artifacts were removed from display or storage in the World Heritage Museum and inventoried. Each artifact was identified, measured, weighed, and photographed. Records were updated on a database that could hold more than 150 pieces of information on each artifact. This was thefirstfull inventory of the Museum's collections since 1972. When the Museum's doors closed to the public in May 1998. the exhibit spaces were transformed into specialized work centers. Among the challenges the staff faced was developing efficient techniques for creating the 1,785 boxes and 144 crates needed for transporting the artifacts, each of which had unique packing requirements. The staff experimented with various packing materials, from polyester fill to blocks of ethafoam, designed to fit snugly around vulnerable portions of some of the more fragile artifacts. Packing consumed more than 10,000 cubic feet of packing peanuts—enough to fill two semi-trailers. It took a team of museum staff and 35 undergraduate students Just over two years to Inventory and pack over 30,000 artifacts. The actual move was accomplished In only four days. Over the next several months, another 15.000 artifacts were moved to the new building from other offsite locations.

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I H | SFUftLOCK MUSEUM