SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — Work is ready to begin to expand the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Southport.
The museum will break ground for a 2,500-square-foot addition at Fort Johnston on the Southport waterfront tomorrow at 4 p.m. NC Department of Cultural Resources Susan Kluttz will take part in the ceremonies.
The Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum’s “Come Grow with Us” campaign has aimed to raise $305,000 for its Phase 2 expansion. So far it’s raised $287,600 in cash and pledges, according to a news release from the NC Department of Cultural Resources. DCR says volunteers will contribute hundreds of hours of labor and local businesses provide materials and services, sometimes at discounted costs.
The addition will increase the museum’s working spaces, to include a large, multi-purpose meeting/classroom, an archival storage room to protect and preserve sensitive documents and artifacts, provide a workshop for building and maintaining exhibits, a library extension for audio-visual media, two new ADA-compliant bathrooms, offices for the Curator of Education and the Friends’ Administrator and space for storing exhibits, artifacts and other materials.