Mecklenburg's historic sites are struggling
Plus: Your guide to the big stories of the week — thousands vaccinated at the speedway, how Mecklenburg's Covid directive came together, Morehead Street land rezoning may signal new Panthers stadium
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As visitors and funding drop because of the pandemic, the region’s historic sites work to create virtual tours; But can videos replace field trips?
The Charlotte Museum of History grounds are home to the 1774 Rock House, also known as the Hezekiah Alexander House, which is the oldest standing structure in Mecklenburg County. The museum, like other area historical sites, has suffered from a lack of visitors and funding during Covid. (Photo courtesy of the Charlotte Museum of History)
by David Griffith
School field trips, weekend visitors and events that bring people — and money — to historic sites around Charlotte have been missing for the last 10 months. But leaders of these places say they’re optimistic they can keep their storied landmarks afloat until the pandemic ends.
Federal funding and cash from local donors are getting some historic venues by, as ticket sales and revenue from field trips, gift shops and events have dried up.
The situation has leaders of historic sites working together to share ideas for new ways to innovate through online offerings. But there’s concern that nothing can quite replicate the experience of visiting a place — especially for schoolchildren who might not otherwise get to see history firsthand.
James K. Polk House holds steady: At the James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville, the birthplace of the country’s 11th president, visitors vanished as a state stay-at-home order kept its doors shut from March until September. Since reopening, it has closed again twice, most recently last week under guidance from a Mecklenburg County Covid directive.
Tourism revenue tanked, especially with the loss of the usually prosperous summer months, but the site’s president, Scott Warren, said that more than two dozen historic sites around North Carolina, including the Polk house, have continued receiving funding from the state.
Because of this, the pandemic has not affected the Polk House’s operating budget. However, Warren said he is worried that a new N.C. General Assembly budget could include reduced funding for state historic sites.
What has suffered at the Polk House, however, is the site’s non-profit arm, called the Friends of President Polk’s Birthplace Inc. It brings in donations and membership funds to sponsor educational events, field trips, summer camps and other special events.
“For example, they operate our gift shop,” Warren said, “and so the revenue from that has been almost non-existent.” He said donations returned for them once the grounds reopened in September.
Taking the virtual leap: The Charlotte Museum of History in east Charlotte also had to close in March, and it quickly created a number of free virtual programs to allow access to its resources. Because it relies on private funding, it was in a tougher financial spot, so leaders started a campaign to find donors who could help.
President and CEO Adria Focht said the museum received a challenge grant from the Weatherspoon Family Foundation to reach $75,000 in donations. The Charlotte Museum of History raised $165,000.
Though that helped, Focht said the museum still has a “gaping hole” in its budget. The museum reported losses of nearly $150,000 between March and October due to lack of in-person tours, events and field trips. The museum offers exhibits and programs focusing on the settlement of the Carolinas and the ideas and events before the Revolutionary War.
The museum grounds are home to a number of buildings that double as exhibits, such as a reproduction log kitchen and barn, as well as the 1774 Hezekiah Alexander House (also known as the Alexander Rock House), the oldest surviving house in Mecklenburg County. Since it couldn’t have visitors on the grounds, museum leaders created virtual 360-degree tours guests could take online, hoping to offer as close to an in-person experience as possible.
The museum also created other free virtual programs and field trips aimed at different audiences, like a “Lunch and Learn” program for adults and a homeschooling session for students. Education specialists show cooking or crafting tutorials but with a historical twist.
In all, the museum created more than 60 digital programs.
The transition to virtual offerings paid off. Registrations for programs grew from 20,000-22,000 annually to more than 33,000 in 2020.
For now, the modern museum building and historic house remain closed, though starting in October the museum began allowing guests on the outdoors grounds one Saturday each month, in series of socially distanced tours for small groups. These tours are canceled for now, though, because of the county health department directive issued earlier this month.
Even when the directive lifts, the museum does not expect to start opening every day because of reduced demand, Focht said.
‘Extremely tough year’: At the Historic Latta Plantation in Huntersville, which aims to demonstrate the lives of 19th-century planters, slaves and settlers of the North Carolina backcountry, the number of visitors has “significantly declined” during the pandemic, as all summer camps and fall/spring field trips were cancelled. The site, home to a circa-1800 plantation home and farm, closed for three months before reopening and operating with reduced staff.
Visitor Services Director Jennette Coomer said through emails with The Ledger that the pandemic “devastated our funding.” The site ran a $10,000 fundraiser in the fall called “Preserve Latta.” Grounds projects, including a planned renovation to the visitors center, were halted because of a lack of resources.
Plantation leaders created a series of virtual field trips called “Latta Learning” to reach students at home that can be viewed on YouTube or its website. It also created a number of special online exhibits called “Education Thursdays: Quarantine” and sold time-slot tickets for five weeks through October, where instructors taught about diseases, their origins and traditional hygiene.
Working together: Many of the historic sites in the Mecklenburg County area have been working together to figure out how to best navigate through the pandemic — an effort made easier by the Charlotte Regional History Consortium. The James K. Polk House, the Charlotte Museum of History and Historic Latta Plantation are all members. Focht is the outgoing president of the collaborative.
“I think that every organization has really responded in its own way and responded in a way they felt best,” Focht said.
One common area of pain, Focht said, is the lack of school field trips to historic places. For as useful as online learning can be, Focht said, it cannot always compare to experiencing something in real life.
“[A field trip is] a generational thing,” she said. “It connects us to our identity and our legacy and how we got to now in a way that I don’t think the digital experience quite captures.”
The James K. Polk House created a virtual field trip experience for 4th graders and above, though it has yet to see any bookings. The Charlotte Museum of History, on the other hand, found such success with its own virtual offerings that it plans to continue making them available even after the number of in-person visitors returns to normal.
Focht said in-person events and lessons are by no means a thing of the past, “but we’ll never do another in-person lecture that we don’t film and share.”
David Griffith, a student at Queens University of Charlotte, is a reporting intern at The Ledger.
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On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Politics
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One high school coach’s take on sports postponement: (Observer) North Mecklenburg High School boys basketball coach Duane Lewis is not a fan of the hiatus for all CMS-affiliated athletics but feels his players will ultimately be OK. Many teams’ seasons were completely disrupted, including his own basketball team, which had to stop after three games and will resume with only a week left in the season.
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Fashion tips: (Friday 🔒) Because you probably can’t keep wearing sweatpants forever, style expert Tonya Speaks gives you some tips on navigating toward the inevitable return to the office and in-person networking. Part of our “A Better You in 2021” series.
Surgeries delayed: (Wednesday 🔒, Friday 🔒) Atrium Health says it is limiting some non-essential surgeries in Charlotte as Covid cases rise. Novant Health says it isn’t — but it is taking similar steps in Rowan County.
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