Museum of North Idaho loses $500K federal grant

When Museum of North Idaho staff learned in early April a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund their phase two expansion was in doubt, they didn’t despair. 

“We kept that little bit of hope,” said Britt Thurman, MONI executive director. 

But Wednesday, an NEH letter arrived that said it was “withdrawing the offer of federal matching funds related to your application,” Moving History Forward. 

“NEH is repurposing its funding allocations in furtherance of the President’s priorities,” the letter said.  

It went on to state, “NEH must immediately withdraw its offer to safeguard the interests of the federal government, including its fiscal priorities.” 

Thurman and staff were disappointed. 

“Unfortunately, that last little hope we had was taken from us today,” she said Wednesday.

MONI recently celebrated the opening of its new home, the renovated 1902 J.C. White House, at the base of Tubbs Hill at McEuen Park. The project cost about $3 million. 

The main floor has a gift shop, welcome area, a few exhibits and donor wall. The second floor has an office, temporary exhibits, a research library and conference room. The 460-square-foot third floor is office space. Main exhibits are on the lower level. 

In total, however, it only has about 1,300 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibit space, not near enough to showcase MONI's collection.

The $500,000 grant, which required the museum to raise $1.5 million, would have gone toward the $3 million phase 2 underground expansion, which will create another 4,000 square feet of exhibit space and a state-of-the-art archives and collections storage area.

"We’ll be able to tell more of our region’s story,” Thurman said. 

With the NEH grant gone, Thurman said she and the board will regroup and consider their options. 

If they are confident they can still raise the $3 million in a timely manner, they may proceed with expansion plans. The hope was to begin construction in 2028.   

If not, they may put it on hold and stick with current exhibition space “longer than we originally intended.” 

“We’ll definitely be doing the expansion at some point,” Thurman said. “It’s needed.” 

She said other local nonprofits are also facing financial challenges.

“We’re all trying to support each other through this right now,” Thurman said.