SC State closes I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium building

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC (WIS) - The interim president of SC State University is speaking out about the decision to temporarily close the building where the school houses its museum and planetarium.

Dr. W. Franklin Evans said the ruling to close the I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium building is strictly financial.

He said being that SC State is on probation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools known as SACS, the school was required to balance its budget. In doing so, leaders decided to close nine buildings on campus that operate using a boiler system.

The I.P. Stanback building which is home to an African art collection, civil rights artifacts and the James Brown exhibit is one of them.

Evans said the boiler system is more than 60 years old and costs up to $2,200 a day.

"It will be a major savings to us to take those buildings that are on the boiler system off and provide them with their own heating and air system," Evans said.

The I.P. Stanback building is set to close at the end of October.

Evans said the artifacts in the museum will be moved to the Crawford Engineering complex on campus which is a smaller building.

"We won't be able to display everything like we had, the fact is we still have a museum," Evans said. "The museum will be operational but most importantly has to remain alive and so that is the priority."

Evans said after the boiler system is decentralized, the artifacts will be moved back to its original home here the I.P. Stanback building.

A timeline on when that could happen has not been determined.

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