Museum of North Idaho's $500K grant in jeopardy

The Museum of North Idaho’s $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities is in jeopardy. 

“That’s a huge chunk of our funding for phase two of our expansion,” said Britt Thurman, MONI executive director. “If we were to lose it, that would seriously set back our plans for our expanded exhibit area. To have to raise another $500,000 could delay us quite dramatically.” 

Thurman received an email from the National Humanities Alliance this week that said the Department of Government Efficiency was targeting the NEH “with the aim of substantially reducing its staff, cutting the agency’s grant program and rescinding grants that have already been awarded.” 

“These actions have the potential to devastate the agency and, of course, the humanities community that relies on these government funds,” read the letter from Cecily Hill, NHA deputy direct.

The museum was awarded its matching grant last year. Thurman said while she hasn’t received notification the grant will be lost, she and her staff are bracing for it. 

“None of this will impact our ability to open the museum in two weeks,” she said Wednesday. 

The museum recently began moving into its new home in McEuen Park at the base of Tubbs Hill. The journey to get there began when the 1902 J.C. White House was moved from Eighth Street and Sherman Avenue in 2019 to be the Museum of North Idaho's future home.

The project cost about $3 million, including site work and renovating the White House with new framing, electric, HVAC, insulation, windows and doors.   

The main floor will have a gift shop, welcome area, a few exhibits and donor wall. The second floor will have offices, temporary exhibits, a research library and conference room. The third floor will have offices. Main exhibits will be on the lower level. 

On Wednesday, volunteers were cleaning rooms, organizing shelves and painting walls to prepare for the grand opening the weekend of April 17 to 19. It will include a donor reception, giveaways, tours, ribbon cutting and an Easter egg hunt. 

Thurman said it took about four years to raise the funds for phase one and phase two was expected to be about the same. The hope was to begin construction in 2028. 

The second phase calls for a $2.5 million, 5,000-square-foot underground expansion that will house professionally designed and installed exhibits and a state-of-the-art archives and collections storage.  

But if the $500,000 grant is rescinded, it will push that back indefinitely. 

“How this plays out, we’ll be waiting to hear, like many other museums, libraries and other organizations,” Thurman said. “For us, it’s difficult, but we’re just one of many being impacted by this.” 

In the email, Hill urged Thurman to contact members of Congress and ask them to speak up for the NEH. She also called on Thurman to let board members, donors, teachers and others know the grant was in jeopardy.

“It is imperative that policymakers understand the board impact of NEH funding,” Hill wrote.